


Shadows and Light

by SilvaraWilde



Series: Shadows and Light [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Character Bashing, Creature Fic, Dark, Dumbledore Bashing, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fluff and Angst, Harem fic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mystery, Past Abuse, Physical Abuse, Romance, Ron Bashing, Slash, Twincest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-03
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2017-12-17 14:33:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 41
Words: 83,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/868650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilvaraWilde/pseuds/SilvaraWilde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry comes into an unexpected inheritance. Now he must learn how to control his new powers, find out who his friends really are, and try to not make too many mistakes along the way. </p><p>This fic contains bad/evil Dumbledore, Molly and Ron. There will also be slash, and multiple mates for Harry. You have been warned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. So it starts

**Author's Note:**

> Standard disclaimers apply. I do not own any rights to Harry Potter or the characters therein, except the characters you don't recognize from the books. _Those_ are mine. The others all belong to J. K. Rowling; I am merely borrowing them for a while.
> 
>  
> 
> First Harry Potter fic, first fic written in 8 years. I have no beta, so any out of characterness or other mistakes are all my own. At the moment, I have 5 mates plotted for Harry, this may change as the fic goes on. MPreg has not been decided upon, currently there is none. If enough people request it, I may work it in somewhere. But it isn't integral to the fic. 
> 
> Chapters get longer after this one, I just needed to set things up and this worked out as a good place to end.

****

So It Starts

Harry lay on his bed waiting for the clock to tick over to midnight. In 2 minutes, he would be 16 years old. So much had happened to him in his short life, he couldn't help but wonder what this year would bring. He still felt an ache every time he thought about Sirius, an emptiness that he tried to shove down and bury. But he couldn't help but wonder, who would be next? His parents were dead because of a mad man who had been after _him._ Cedric had died because of that same mad man. Sirius was dead, ultimately because that mad man had fooled him, but really, it all came down to him and Voldemort. 

This year would be different. He refused to go on as he had been, totally unprepared. If the Prophecy was true, and it really was just down to him or Voldemort, then he was going to have to start taking this more seriously. He needed training! But Dumbledore didn't seem all that keen on giving him extra lessons, it was almost as though he _wanted_ Harry to be unskilled.

As his thoughts chased each other around in his brain, he failed to notice that the clock had finally ticked over. He barely had time to register that a glowing sphere surrounded him before his eyes rolled back in his head and he blacked out. This would be a mercy, he would decide later. Being unconscious, he wouldn't be aware of the pain that was sure to follow. As the light grew brighter, his body lifted and hovered above the bed, wind whipped around the room, and it seemed as though a great storm was happening. But all of it was happening in complete silence.

When it was finally over, Harry lay unconscious in the middle of his destroyed room. The only things untouched were the bed, Hedwig's cage, and a chair that was sitting in the far corner of the room. Had anyone been awake, they would have noticed that the chair was occupied, but as the room was dark, and no one _was_ awake, the occupant merely leaned back and crossed their ankles. Patiently waiting for Harry to finish sleeping off the magic storm that had hit the room. Morning would be greatly entertaining, and the only thing keeping the figure from pouncing and waking Harry up right now to start the fun, was the knowledge that nothing would wake him at this point. He had to wake up on his own. And that would be hours from now, quite possibly not until the sun was well up in the sky. With a little sigh of boredom, they settled back to watch over him.


	2. What Am I?

**What Am I?**

Harry's first thought upon waking was that his body hurt, mostly his back. And he couldn't remember any reason why it might be hurting. His second thought never made it into being, as the moment he opened his eyes all his brain could come up with was _ahhh!_ He scrambled sideways and managed to fall over the far side of the bed in a tangle of limbs and sheets, while a musical giggle was heard in the background. The reason for this, was because as soon as his sleep-blurred eyes opened and focused, he realized he was staring into another pair of eyes, and a face was poised mere inches above his own.

He definately had no memory of letting anyone into his room, but maybe they were sent by Dumbledore? As he tried to get free of his bedding, he realized something else. There were _wings_ growing out of his back! He didn't know which strange thing to deal with first, but decided that the stranger in his room was a little more important.

"I see you are finally awake. I was beginning to think you would sleep the morning away, and it is _so_ boring watching people sleep. At least as boring as watching grass grow."

Finally free of his bedding, Harry stood slowly and got a better view of his visitor. She looked to be in her early twenties, and was short, but still a little taller than he was. Pale silver-blonde hair fell to her waist, and she had green eyes. But the most striking feature was her wings. They were large and bat-like, in white and blue like the summer sky. The blotches on them gave them a marble effect.

"Uh... I'm sorry, I don't think I know you? And how did you make it up here without setting the Dursley's off?"

The girl laughed again, the sound reminding him a little of wind chimes. "Oh _them!_ I used a whisper of Air and they never knew I was here. And once I was, the wards on this room will keep them from remembering it, _or you,_ exist." She snapps her fingers and grins at him. "Easy! 

So. I am Ash, and I am to be your Guide since I found you first. What is your name child?"

Harry's head reeled a little, this girl spoke quickly, and hadn't stopped moving since he laid eyes on her. It almost seemed like she physically could not stand still, and Guide? What did he need a Guide for? 

"My name is Harry, Harry Potter. What do you mean you are my Guide? What is a Guide and why do I need one?"

"Why to your Demon inheritance of course! You're living in the mortal realm, otherwise you wouldn't need a Guide. You'd already know everything you need to know, but most Demons born to mortals don't know hardly anything at all. So that's where I come in. I felt your awakening, and since I got here first, that means I get to keep you until you know all about our kind, I get bored, or your mates decide to take over your teaching."

Ash was bouncing slightly on her toes by the time she finished her 'explination', but Harry hardly noticed. _Demon inheritance?! I can't be a demon, I'm a wizard! And demons are evil, like Voldemort! I don't feel evil, she has to be wrong!_

Perhaps noticing Harry's disbelieving look, Ash made a flowing twist of her wrist and first two fingers, pointing them at the wall directly in front of Harry. The moment her hand stopped moving, the wall rippled and turned into a mirror. There, staring out at him was...himself. But the Harry in the mirror wasn't much like the Harry that had gone to bed the night before. He had grown, if only a little, and he guessed he was around 5'5". His skin was still tanned, but now it had almost red tinges to the tan. His hair was a little longer, reaching to the tops of his shoulders, and were those... _horns_ he saw peeking out of his hair?! His eyes were still the bright green that resembled his mother's, but they were also slit-pupiled like a cats, and he had small but sharply pointed claws on the ends of each finger. But by far the biggest change that he could now see, was the wings he had noticed earlier. The were large, and just as bat-like as Ash's, but his were the dark charcoal of smoke, with blood red blotches. There were no scales or fur or hair, just thin skin over bone.

"You're a Fire Demon of course. There are 6 types of demons you know, Storm, Shadow, Water, Air, Fire and Earth." As she said Air, she made a small almost-bow with her head and motioned to herself, so Harry could only guess that meant that Ash was an Air Demon. 

This was still a little hard for him to process. Seeing was not always believing as he had learned since coming to the Wizarding World, but in this case, he was thinking he would have to belive that what he was seeing and hearing were indeed the truth. As he pulled his eyes away from the mirror, he finally registered the state of his room. Other than the bed, Hedwig's cage, and one chair in the far corner, nothing remained. Well, nothing that was recognizable at any rate. There were pices of wood, none larger than the size of a pencil, ripped pages from books, shreds of Dudley's cast-off clothing, powder that might once have been broken knick-knacks or other assorted broken objects that were stored in 'his' room. In short, it looked like a tornado had hit the room while he slept.

"What happened to the room? The Dursley's are going to be so angry!"

"Oh that. It was the magics from your inheritance. And you don't need to worry about your guardians, that's my job now. We won't be staying here much longer, just waiting on you to catch up on a few things, and then we'll collect your stuff and head off to the Realm."

"Whoa wait a minute! What do you mean I'm not staying here any longer? I mean, it's not that I like it here or want to stay, but I can't just go off and leave for who know's where. I have friends here, and school, and we can't forget the insane wizard who wants to kill me."

Ash's cheerful and slightly scatter-brained demenor changed the moment Harry mentioned someone wanting to kill him. _Now_ she looked the part of a demon. She stopped bouncing around the room and playing with random bits of debris, and somehow, with only a few inches between their heights, managed to tower over him menacingly.

"Someone wants to kill you? And you want to stay _here_ and let them try? Are you totally insane? Fire demons are supposed to be smarter than that! Get your stuff, we're leaving for the Realm right now. Any other explinations can wait until we get you to a wizard-free zone."

"Wait! He doesn't know where I live, Dumbledore said the blood wards keep Voldemort from finding me. And of course I don't want to let him try! But no one has bothered to teach me how to defeat him, they just pat me on the head and tell me that the grown-ups will worry about that, all the while ignoring the fact that a prophecy said I have to be the one to do it." Harry kicked a pile of wood in frustration as he thought of all the times he had gone to the various adults in his life and they had all brushed him off as being too young to be told anything useful.

"Blood wards? There are no blood wards on this house, the only wards of any kind were monitoring wards, keyed to you. I reattached them to the baby whale who lives here. It's not like they would have worked in the Realm in any event, but at least this way they aren't attached to you anymore."

"But my mother's sacrifice, she died to save me. Dumbledore said it was the reason Voldemort couldn't touch me, and that since she had let him kill her, I had to live here since the wards would only work if I lived with my mother's sister who shared my blood. They're supposed to keep the Death Eaters and Voldemort from finding me!"

"Sorry kid, there were no such things on the house when I got here. Are you sure this Dumbledore person can be trusted? Would he gain anything from lying to you?"

"I...don't know. He's the leader of the Light, he has to be trustworthy, I mean, everyone looks up to him and he defeated the last Dark Lord..."

"Just because someone _seems_ good and Light, doesn't mean they _are_ good or Light. Look at us. We're demons. But that doesn't make us evil or Dark! Some of us are of course, but there are also many neutrals and Light demons. Haven't you learned yet that just because it looks pretty doesn't mean it's safe? And just because it looks scary or evil, doesn't mean that it _is?_ "

Harry sank down on the edge of his bed, head once more reeling. It made so much sense when you looked at it this way. And yet... it was so hard to believe. He didn't have anywhere near the amount of information he needed, about Dumbledore _or_ Demons. Either way, could he really go off and leave his friends behind? They'd stood by him through so much already, it seemed like he would be throwing everything back in their faces if he just ran off without a word. And he'd need money wherever it was they were going, wouldn't he? Maybe he should try to talk Ash into taking him to Gringotts, and letting him write a few letters so his friends wouldn't think he'd been kidnapped by Voldemort.

"Ash... What is the Realm? And before we go there, I need to do a few things."

"The Realm is like this world, but not. It's where most of the demons, fae, Djinns, Incubus, Sucubus, and many other creatures live. We chose to leave the Mortal Realm when humans and wizard kind started hunting and persecuting us. There are a few wizards living there, but they are few and far between. Mostly it is a world for what wizards would term, Dark Creatures to live without fear of being hunted to extinction. You will love it there, I promise! There are so many of our kind, and so many things to do!"

"Alright. I suppose a short visit won't be too bad, but I can't stay there. I have friends here, and things I have to do in _this_ realm Ash. And still, there are things I need to do before we go there. The first one is to stop by Gringotts."


	3. Gringotts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note the rating has changed to M. There will be no descriptions of sex, but in the next few chapters there will be mentions of mental abuse. The Teen rating was a miss-click on my part. I will note the chapter the abuse happens in for those who do not wish to read such things. 
> 
> Next chapter we finally make it to the Realm!

****

Gringotts

When Harry crawled under his bed to get his cloak, and a few other prized things from under the loose floorboard, the first thing he saw was his glasses. He stopped moving for a moment and just blinked, then reached up to touch his face to be sure that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him after all the revelations of the morning. But no, he really hadn't been wearing his glasses this whole time, and yet he could see perfectly clearly. Deciding he just wasn't going to worry about it, he added them to the small pile of his belongings and crawled back out from under the bed.

"My trunk is downstairs in the cupboard under the stairs. Once we get it, we can go to Gringotts. But can you shrink it for me? I'm not allowed to do magic outside of school."

"Easily, but why are your things downstairs? Shouldn't you keep them in your room? Though considering what happened last night, I will admit that it was just as well they weren't here. Is that why your trunk is down there?"

Not wanting to get into his life with the Dursley's, at all ever, and especially not when his life had literally been turned on end, Harry just shrugged a little. "Yeah, something like that."

"Well, we could do this the normal way and walk...but it will be much more fun to travel by way of Air. And that way, you'll get a small taste of what it will be like to go as far as Gringotts. So come here Harry, this won't be quite like anything you've experienced before and you'll travel easier if you're close."

As Harry approached Ash, he was a little worried. After all, he had never quite gotten the hang of Floo travel, and he absolutely hated Portkeys after his experiences in the graveyard. Side-along apparition was not what he would call fun either. So he could hardly help but be nervous about Ash's comment about it being 'fun'. Especially considering that Ash's definition of 'fun' wasn't what he would consider fun for most normal people.

The moment he was close enough, Ash reached out one hand and pulled him closer, so close his small bundle of mementos were pressed between their bodies. And then she brought her wings forward and folded them around him like he was in a cocoon. It made him feel surprisingly safe. As though no harm would come to him as long as he was with her. Was this part of being a Guide? Or was it because they were both Demons? Harry didn't know, and wasn't really sure he cared as long as the feeling was a true one. In the next instant after that thought, he felt Ash bounce a little on her toes, and raise her right arm above their heads. With a snap of her fingers, a great wind blew up around them as though they were in the eye of a storm, and in the next second, they were suddenly standing downstairs right in front of the door of the cupboard under the stairs. The wind died away and Harry was surprised at how _easy_ travel by Air was compared to any of the Wizarding ways of travel.

Shaking his head, he stepped back away from Ash and opened the door to pull out his trunk. The house was silent and he wondered briefly where the Dursley's had gone, but it didn't really matter as long as they weren't there to bother him or show Ash that he wasn't treated well here. Once his trunk was out of the cupboard, and the items from under the floorboard were added to it, Ash rapped the top of it with one knuckle and it shrank down to the size of a deck of cards. Harry pocketed it and then resumed his position for their trip to Gringotts. Traveling by Air was something he felt he could easily get used to!

This time when the wind storm died away, Harry saw a white marble room with no windows. It was on the small side, and didn't look like anywhere he had seen so far in Gringotts.

"Ash... I thought we were going to Gringotts next?"

"We _are_ at Gringotts Harry. This is one of the receiving rooms for non-Wizards, the goblins will have been alerted to our arrival and someone should be here soon to take us to... wherever it is that you wanted to go here."

Ash released him and stepped back with a shrug. Truth be told, she was starting to get a little bored already and they hadn't even done all that much so far. It was most likely all the hours she had spent waiting for Harry to wake up, but that still didn't bode well for the immediate future as she was likely to find her own entertainment soon. Shortly after Ash finished speaking, the lone door in the room opened and a goblin walked in. He took one look at Ash and Harry and his eyebrows rose.

"We don't usually get your kind here, what business brings you to the Wizarding Gringotts instead of the one in the Realm?"

"There's a Gringotts in the Realm?" Harry's jaw dropped in surprise, maybe it wouldn't be such a hassle dealing with money in the Realm then. If of course, he was able to use his current Vault there as well as here.

"Well of course there's a Gringotts in the Realm! Who else has enough experience to do it?" The goblin crossed his arms and somehow managed to appear to look down his nose while actually looking up at Harry. "Now what do you want?"

Reading rightly that he was very close to offending the goblin, if he hadn't managed to do so already, Harry dropped his eyes and tried to get his mind back on track. Ash was examining her claws and not about to get into the middle of things.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you couldn't do the job or anything. I just came into my inheritance last night and as Ash keeps pointing out, I don't know anything much about Demons or the Realm or any of that yet. I wanted to check on my account, see how much money I have, and make a withdrawal. But if there is a branch of Gringotts in the Realm, is there a way to link my vault here with one in the Realm so I can use it in either place?"

"Who is your account manager?"

"I don't know sir. The few times I've been here, I just went up to one of the tellers and presented my key. Then they sent me down with someone in a cart, it never seemed to be the same goblins, and I didn't know my account _had_ a manager..."

"Name?"

"Harry Potter."

That seemed to surprise the goblin once again, he just nodded and turned around heading for the door. "Follow me." Harry and Ash followed the goblin through a few twisting corridors until they finally came to a stop at a heavy-looking bronze door with a silver plaque that had Ragnok stamped into it. Knocking twice on the door, the goblin then opened it and waved them through, before leaving them alone with the goblin in the room.

"Yes? What is it? I am not in charge of any Demon accounts." The goblin who spoke was sitting behind a large, heavy looking desk made out of some rich dark wood that had been polished to a warm sheen. It was obviously old and had been in use by many goblins over the years. The goblin himself looked older, with greying hair and more wrinkles than most of the goblins Harry had yet seen. But his eyes were still sharp, and his hands never wavered as he put the quill he had been using back into the pot of ink in front of him.

"Excuse me sir. My name is Harry Potter, and the goblin who led us here asked who my account manager was. I didn't know I had an account manager, but when I told him my name he brought us here."

"Harry Potter is a wizard, not a Demon."

"I came into my inheritance last night sir, and woke up this way. I'm sure you have ways of proving I am who I say I am."

Ragnok considered Harry for a moment, then opened one of his desk drawers and sorted through the parchment it contained. Pulling out one sheet, he put it down in the middle of the desk and added a very sharp looking dagger.

"Three drops of blood on the parchment, and we shall see if you are indeed who you say."

A flash of Wormtail and the dagger in the graveyard flickered across Harry's mind, but he shoved it back and carefully picked up the dagger. It was heavier than it looked, but beautifully made. Carefully cutting the pad of one finger, he allowed three drops to fall on the parchment before putting the dagger back on the desk and taking a single step back. Ragnok cleaned the dagger with a handkerchief, and waited as the parchment glowed briefly and writing started to appear. Once it stopped, Harry was just able to see that it had his full name, and Demon status before Ragnok picked it up and hmmm'd as he read it, then put it back in the desk drawer.

"All right Mr. Potter. What can I help you with today?"

"I wanted to know if it was possible to make my vault accessible both here and in the Realm. As well as find out exactly how much is in my vault as I've never received any statements."

"We can give you a card that will allow you to draw on your account from anywhere, including muggle areas. But what do you mean you've never received your statements? We have sent them to you every month since you turned 11 and started accessing your accounts."

"I never got any statements. And what do you mean accounts? I only have the one vault that I've been using to buy my school supplies with."

Ragnok scowled, which looked particularly fearsome on goblin features. "You have your trust vault which was set up by your parents and is the one you've been accessing for your school supplies. It also automatically pays your tuition to Hogwarts every year. You also have the main Potter vault which has most of your parents money and heirlooms, as well as two vaults that were bequeathed to you by your godfather Sirius Black. They contain the Black fortune and heirlooms as well as anything else of value the Blacks decided to leave in the vaults instead of in their homes. You should have been getting statements every month telling you not only how much money you have, but what investments you have and all transactions going into or out of those accounts."

As Ragnok spoke, Harry's temper was flaring. He had _four_ vaults? And no one had bothered to tell him that he had more than just the one, not to mention that he had never gotten a statement about them in his life. Just thinking about being able to go through the main Potter Vault and see what his parents had thought important enough to keep in there... he had so little that belonged to them, and all this time there was an entire _vault_ of things his parents and other relatives had owned! There could even be a portrait of them in there. He might actually be able to talk to his parents, get to know them a little. At this last thought, the torches in the room flared higher with a muted roar, looking like nothing so much as miniature volcanoes of flame on the walls.

"Harry! Control it, do not let it control you. Calm yourself child, we will find out what has been going on I promise you. But right now you must get a hold of your Fire before it does any harm!" Ash grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him to he could see what he was doing to the torches. The sight shocked him enough that his temper died down momentarily and the torches gave one last fiery roar before settling back down to normal size and strength. Unfortunately, there were now black scorch marks on the white marble walls from his loss of control.

"Mr. Potter, I understand your anger. I do not know why you have not been getting your statements, or why you were not informed about your vaults, but I assure you I will get to the bottom of this matter. Do I have your permission to freeze your accounts while I look into this? They will still be accessible using this card," here Ragnok held out a flat metal card that looked remarkably like a muggle credit card that he must have gotten while Harry was lost in temper. "but no one else will be able to access your accounts until you choose to unfreeze them. Money can still be deposited, but nothing can be taken out unless by this card."

Ash still had one arm wrapped around his shoulders, and had brought her wings up partially around him as well trying to keep Harry grounded for the rest of the conversation. So he was able to take a deep breath and nod to Ragnok without a repeat of the loss of control. 

"Yes please sir. Is there a way to forward my mail to the Realm? Ash wishes to take me there today and start my Demon training, but I don't want to lose contact with my friends or miss any more notices about my accounts."

"That is easily done Mr. Potter. We can have your mail routed to Gringotts and checked for anything malicious before having it sent to our branch in the Realm. Once there, someone will notify you and you can come pick it up. You can also send letters the same way, just take them to the Gringotts in the Realm and tell them you need them sent to this branch and once they're here, we will make sure to send them out for you."

"Thank you sir. That would be wonderful. Can I send a few letters today? There are a few people who need to know I'll be out of touch for a while."

"Of course Mr. Potter. Just address the outside to the recipient, and I will make sure they go out immediately." Ragnok passed Harry parchment, a quill, and the bottle of ink and waited while Harry wrote out three quick notes. 

One to the twins telling them that he might be out of touch for a while, but messages could get to him via Gringotts. And to send Hedwig to Hermione so she had a way of getting a hold of people if she needed to. He had sent Hedwig off to the twins last night with a note, and as she hadn't returned yet, he was hoping they still had her. He didn't know if it was safe to take her to the Realm and wanted to be sure she was somewhere she'd be safe. One note went to Ron letting him know he was safe, but would be out of touch for a little while and not to worry. And the last went to Hermione, saying the same thing as Ron's but with an additional note asking her to keep Hedwig for him until he returned. Then he addressed them and handed them over to Ragnok.

"Thank you very much sir for all your help."

"Not at all Mr. Potter. I will get in touch the moment I learn anything about what has been going on with your accounts."

Ash stepped up behind Harry, and before he could say another word, she had enveloped him with her wings and snapped her fingers calling up Air to travel to the Realm.


	4. The Realm

Any objection to Ash's high-handedness flew from Harry's mind the moment he got his first look at the Realm. It literally stunned him. Not because it was beautiful, or so different from his own world, though it was both of these things. But because of the sheer amount of _people._ His mind couldn't seem to process what he was seeing fast enough before something or some _one_ new caught his eye. There were what he could only assume were Demons, since they had the same marble-affect wings as Ash and he did. But there were other creatures he had no name for, or any idea of what they could possibly _be._ A very tall man with black skin and red eyes strode down the street, and everyone who saw him immediately gave him a wide berth. A girl with neon green hair and...well, he guessed that was supposed to be a dress, but there was so little to it he blushed to the roots of his hair and quickly turned away. Two stocky men walked by with solid grey wings. A young boy darted through the crowd, his eyes and hair both the color of a sunset sky.

Turning his gaze to the buildings didn't help much either. They seemed to have no rhyme or reason as far as the architecture went. They were mostly made out of many different kinds and colors of stone, most with graceful curves, though quite a few had carvings and other embellishments. Some were tall, some short, one or two had turrets like in a fairy tale. Impossibly thin spires that could only have been built and kept in place by magic. As he looked back at Ash, he saw she was laughing at him! One hand clutched around her tummy and the other trying to cover the giggles that were falling from her mouth. He immediately scowled at her, wings snapping up and out without any thought on his part. She had done this on purpose, not given him any word of warning and now she was laughing at him?!

"I'm s-sorry Harry! But you should have seen the look on your _face!_ " She took a deep breath and seemed to pull herself back together. "This as you can tell, is the Realm. It's my home, and will be yours at least until you get better control of your powers, and start finding your mate or mates. Most prefer to live here, though there are a few that like the mortal realm."

Wait, mate? Harry didn't remember hearing Ash talk about _this_ before. 

"What do you mean mate? I'm only 16, I don't think I'm ready for anything like that!"

"All Demons have mates Harry, but we're not like Veela or some other races. We choose our own, and tend to have anywhere from one to twenty or thirty. It depends on the Demon. We also don't have set submissive and dominant partners, usually that's decided by each Demon for themselves. You might end up with all dominant mates, all submissives, or some mix of both. But that can wait. Demons are immortal, so you can decide to settle down whenever. I myself haven't found anyone yet who could keep my interest for more than a week or so."

As if his life hadn't been turned upside down enough already, now he was going to have to add a mate or mates to the list of weird things happening to him. Harry just shook his head silently, he wasn't going to deal with that right now. Before he had time to worry about the comment about being immortal, Ash started speaking again.

"You can tell what type of Demon you're looking at by the color of their wings. Air Demons have some shade of blue as the dominant color, with white. Fire are a charcoal base with red. Water are shades of blue and green. Earth are brown with gold. Storm are black and white, Shadow are black and purple. But there are also Djinn, Fae, Succubi, Incubi, Goblins, and Gargoyles who live here. As well as a few other species, but mostly those stick to themselves. Djinn are all tall, and have varying skin colors with no wings. You don't want to piss them off, they get more powerful the older they are and looks can be deceiving. Remember, most of us are immortal. Not every race is, but if you go by that rule of thumb you will have less chances of offending anyone."

Trying desperately to memorize all the information Ash was suddenly deciding to give him, Harry wondered about the other people he had already seen who didn't fit into the current descriptions.

"What about the ones with solid grey wings? And the ones with bright colored hair and no wings? What are they?"

"Solid grey are usually the Gargoyles. They're the best stone-shapers in the Realm, most of the buildings were designed by them. Bright colored hair belong to two different races. The Fae usually have eyes that match their hair, and they _always_ look younger than they are. Succubi and Incubi are easy to pick out as they wear very little, and will most likely end up propositioning you at some point if they get the chance." She laughed as Harry blushed again. "We should probably move out of the way of traffic a little if you have more questions before we start moving on."

Ash turned and started heading towards a low wall, just the right height to sit on. As Harry started to follow her, he ran into something quite solid, almost falling back onto his butt on the ground but a strong hand shot out and grabbed him by the arm steadying him. He looked up to apologize but the words died unspoken. Three Demons stood in front of him, the center most one had dark purple hair done in intricate braids on each side of his head. A quick glance told Harry that this was a Shadow Demon. The brunette on his right was an Earth Demon, and the one on the left with long black hair, was a Storm Demon. All three of them had the intricate braids on the sides of their heads. He wondered if it meant anything, or if they just liked the style. It was then that he realized he hadn't said a word and was just staring!

"I-I'm sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going closely enough. I-"

"Easy little one, no harm done. Are you wandering about by yourself?" The Shadow Demon released Harry's arm now that his feet were steady beneath him again. Harry's wings had flattened down on his back and he had hunched in a little on himself without conscious thought, expecting to be yelled at or worse. But the other man's voice was kind, if a little more gravely than he had expected. The Earth and Storm Demons were studying him curiously, but didn't look like they were planning on speaking.

"No. I was following my Guide but got a little distracted. I only just arrived in the Realm." Harry's posture straightened up a bit now that it seemed like he wouldn't be in trouble after all. That was certainly the last thing he needed, to make enemies in the first moments after entering the Realm!

"You're looming again Gideon, poor thing's going to get a crick in his neck from having to look up at you." The Earth Demon elbowed the Shadow Demon - Gideon? - and then looked back down at Harry. "I'm Herne, that's Gideon, and the silent fellow is Laric. What's your name? And where is your Guide?"

All three Demons were quite tall it was true, at least six feet if not taller, and it did help Harry's neck a bit when Gideon took a step back, even if Gideon _was_ shooting Herne a dirty look in the process.

"I'm Harry. Ash was heading over towards the wall over there..." As he pointed in the direction, the crowd parted a little and they could see Ash seated on the wall and grinning in their direction. When she realized they were looking at her, she raised an arm and waved energetically at all four of them.

"Air Guiding Fire? Sounds like you're going to be in for a fun ride Harry. Air tend to be a little on the flighty side and are fairly easy to distract." Gideon seemed to be amused by the thought, but the one who hadn't spoken yet - Laric? - suddenly reached out and touched Gideon on the shoulder. His voice was low and soft, but rich as though he might spend time singing.

"Gid, we're going to be late for the match if we don't leave soon."

"Damn! All right, let's walk Harry back to his Guide and then we'll be on our way. It was a pleasure meeting you Harry." As he spoke, Gideon laid a hand on Harry's shoulder and steered him expertly through the crowd. They were out and standing in front of Ash faster than Harry had thought possible.

"Keep a better eye on him milady, it's too easy to be overwhelmed on the first view of the Realm." And with that, the three Demons slid back into the crowd and were quickly gone from sight.

"Well! Courting already Harry? And three Warriors? You do move fast!" Ash snickered and hopped down from the wall before Harry could do more than splutter indignantly. "That's what those braids they were wearing mean, by the way. All Warriors wear their hair that way, keeps it from getting in their eyes, and keeps it out of the hands of their enemies. Come on, there's somewhere I want to show you, it'll be fun!"

She grabbed Harry by the hand and started dragging him off down the street. Harry could only wonder what context 'fun' would take this time. She finally stopped in front of a two-story building. It was fairly plain outside compared to some of the ones he had glimpsed so far. The inside however was anything but plain. Thick carpet was everywhere underfoot, and tapestries hung from the walls. Sculptures were scattered around the wide-open space and tucked into nooks in the walls. Harry quickly stopped looking at them once he realized they were all depicting various sexual acts, and with varying genders and numbers of people!

He was getting a sinking feeling about where Ash had brought him, and he really hoped he was wrong, but couldn't figure out what _else_ this place would be used for. And then they were finally all the way inside and there were men and women on couches, as well as wandering around in pairs and groups. And most of them had very very little in the way of clothing on. Harry knew he was red as a beet and didn't know where to look, he finally decided to stare at the floor as that seemed safest for the moment. Ash finally stopped in front of another woman, blessedly clothed, and started up a quickly spoken conversation with her. Harry wasn't really listening, but caught things like "new student", "first time in the Realm", and "introduce you".

"Ash! You dragged him in here without any warning didn't you? Honestly I don't know what to do with you sometimes. The poor boy is going to run off screaming any minute now."

"But Pepper, I wanted you to meet him!" Ash was very nearly whining, and that wasn't something he had heard her do before. It made Harry actually raise his eyes and look at the two. Ash was talking to a woman with pale blue hair and grey eyes, no wings in sight. He frowned thoughtfully trying to figure out what she might be. Not a Demon or Gargoyle, and her eyes didn't match so most likely not Fae...

"Harry is it? I'm Pepper, Ash is a good friend of mine, though sometimes I want to smack her. I'm sure you've gotten that urge a time or two as well." 

The woman laughed and it was rich and velvety, it shot straight through Harry and made him blush again. _Ah... Succubus then...that would make sense here..._

"Nice to meet you Pepper."

"As long as you're here, you should meet my new boy. I just bought him about an hour ago and I must say, he's quite the pretty one. Fionn! Front and center please." 

A shape slid out from behind the pillar he had been hiding behind, coming to stand directly in front of Pepper with his head bowed and eyes on the floor. He _was_ quite pretty. White-blonde hair that fell to just above the tops of his shoulders, a section swept across his forehead to fall into his right eye and shadow it. His eyes were golden, body willowy like a dancers, and he had a golden and black butterfly tattooed on his left shoulder blade. His skin was a warm sun-kissed golden as well, all over from what Harry could see, considering Fionn wasn't wearing more than a _very_ small pair of shorts and a collar around his neck. Something twisted inside him as he looked at the other male, he wasn't sure what it was, but it felt _wrong_ to see the Fae standing there like that.

"Oh he's pretty! Where ever did you find him?" Ash was circling Fionn and looking quite impressed.

"A Djinn actually walked in here with him, said he had been training him but had grown bored and decided to sell him instead. Supposedly he is untouched, but even if that isn't true, he's gorgeous enough to more than make back what I paid for him."

Harry felt his temper flaring, how could they talk about Fionn like he wasn't even standing there? Was slavery such a normal thing in the Realm? Fionn had yet to speak a word, or even raise his eyes up from the floor. He just stood there as though he had totally given up, and it made Harry want to rage and destroy something. He supposed it was his "saving people thing" as his friends had always called it, but he couldn't just stand there and do nothing. And it wasn't like he didn't seem to have heaps of money, Sirius alone had been horribly rich, not including whatever his parent's had left him...

"Pepper. I'll give you twice what you paid if you sell him to me."

Dead silence greeted his words, and he glanced over at them to see both Ash and Pepper just staring at him in shock. He raised his chin stubbornly, he might not be able to save every slave in the Realm, but _this_ one was right here, and he could help him, he just knew he could.

"I'm not sure that's so good an idea Harry, I mean I was joking earlier when I said you could start collecting mates and all. You haven't gotten any training yet, you don't even know how things work in the Realm yet and--"

"I don't care." He held out his Gringotts card to Pepper. "The Goblins said it would work here as well as in the mortal realm. I can afford it, and I want to buy him."

Pepper darted a look towards Ash and then shrugged, taking the card. "If you insist. On your head be it." She walked over to the wall a few feet from where they had been standing and slid the card into a small slit in the wall. A screen flashed into being and she entered a few things before a beep was heard and the card popped back out. Returning the card to Harry she made a shooing motion at them all. 

"All yours. Have fun. I'm going to have to go explain to a few people why they need to request someone else now though, so run along before someone notices and tries to intercept you."

Harry slowly reached out and touched Fionn on the arm, Fionn promptly flinched and hunched in on himself a little. Harry's eyes hardened slightly and he promised himself that he would fix this. His life with the Dursley's hadn't been what he would call 'fun', even by Ash's standards, but they had never actually beaten him. That didn't look like it was the case for Fionn, who still hadn't spoken a word, or even seemed like he was aware of what was happening. First things first, he decided, that collar had to come off. It appeared to be made of solid metal with no catches he could see, and Pepper hadn't given them a key before leaving. He didn't even think about it, just raised his hands and set one on either side of the collar. Almost instantly the collar started to melt and soon it was falling off, all without burning Fionn or Harry. He was a little surprised, but decided to just go with it for now.

"Ash, can you take us somewhere we can get him some real clothes? I don't want to walk under the circumstances."


	5. Broken

The moment they arrived, and Ash released them, Fionn dropped to his knees. His head remained bowed down, hands resting on his knees. It was eerie how silent he was, he hadn't made a single sound since the moment he answered Pepper's call. Harry took a moment to look at the room, it didn't look like any kind of clothing store he had heard of before. But nothing he had seen so far in the Realm really matched up to the Wizarding or Muggle counterpart, so that didn't really mean much.

They seemed to have arrived in the front hall of what he would have thought was someone's home. The walls were a very pale blue, with white designs just barely visible painted on them. The floor was polished wood, and there was a mirror on one wall with a small table beneath it. Two archways led off into the rest of the building.

"Ash? Where are we? This doesn't look much like a clothing store..."

"This is my home Harry, and yours as well until you decide to get your own house. Considering how much you've already been through today, and the state of your new pet, I thought it might be a better idea to come here and get some rest first. You don't know how he's going to react to being taken out in public, _or_ how to treat him."

"He's not a pet! He's a person Ash. Just because someone is a slave doesn't make them lesser than anyone else." Harry glared angrily at her, wings half-raised in his anger, but he tried to keep hold of his temper. He didn't want a repeat of what had happened at Gringotts, or anything worse.

Ash raised a hand in a placating gesture and shook her head. "I don't think they're lesser creatures Harry. And they're not slaves exactly. More like indentured servants. They all get freed someday, it just depends on the price they were originally sold for and how long it takes them to work it off. No one is born indentured, every single one of them either sell themselves into it, or someone in their family does it to them. I'm not saying that makes it much better, or that I approve, but that's how it's always been. Those who can't afford to feed themselves or their families, or those who have no skills to get better jobs and can't afford to pay for training, go this route. The families get a lump sum for them, and once the indentured person pays it all back, they can either stay with the one who bought them, or they are free to go their own way. That said, I've never seen one act the way Fionn does. This isn't normal, and _that_ is why I objected to you buying him. There's something seriously wrong here, and you have enough to deal with already. But what is done is done."

Harry frowned, so slavery wasn't exactly the case. It was still wrong to him, no one should be sold and forced to do another's will. He glanced down at Fionn and saw that the Fae hadn't moved at all from what he could tell. He was still kneeling on the floor in the same position he had assumed upon arrival. But Harry could see goosebumps on his skin and a very faint shiver. After all, Fionn wasn't wearing more than those tiny shorts, so it wasn't surprising that he was cold. He shook his head, explanations could wait, right now he needed to get food, clothes, and a bed for Fionn, not necessarily in that order.

"He's not much taller than I am, some of my things may fit him well enough for now. He certainly can't stay wearing only those."

"We can put him in the room next to yours if you wish, or he can stay with you. It doesn't matter to me either way. The bedrooms are this way." 

Ash headed through the archway directly in front of them and down the hallway. Harry took two steps to follow her and then stopped, turning back to get Fionn he saw that the Fae had stood and was following him. Though he was still keeping his head bowed and his eyes trained on the floor. Holding back a sigh, he turned and continued to follow Ash. 

"This is your room Harry, Fionn can have the door on the right, and my room is at the end of the hall. I'll go see what I can make for dinner, and bring it back to you. But only tonight! There's a dining room we'll use for the rest of the time you're here." She laughed and headed off again, leaving Harry to get Fionn settled.

He decided to go into his room first and unshrink his trunk so he could find some clothes for the Fae to wear. Opening the door, he barely glanced around, but still noticed a large raised bed in the corner near a bay window, a dresser and wardrobe opposite, and a desk with bookshelves on the third wall that didn't have the door. There was another door near the desk that he assumed led into a bathroom. He set his trunk near the dresser and tapped it with his wand, then rummaged inside it once it had returned to it's normal size. Pulling out a simple black t-shirt and pair of loose red sweat pants, he dug a little deeper and came back up with socks and a pair of underwear. He wasn't going to think about how weird it was to share underwear, especially with someone he didn't even know. When he turned to see where Fionn was, he noticed the Fae back in his kneeling position just inside the door. Approaching him, he held out the clothes.

"Here, these should fit you well enough for now. And they're a lot warmer than what you're wearing, go ahead and put them on and we'll see about going shopping later for clothes that actually fit you."

Fionn didn't move so much as a muscle for a long moment, so long Harry was beginning to wonder if the Fae was deaf, except that he had answered when Pepper called him. Finally he reached out and very tentatively took the bundle of clothes from Harry's hand, and then he stood up and stripped the shorts he was wearing off without any warning or outward show of embarrassment. Harry was embarrassed enough for the both of them as he realized Fionn wasn't wearing anything at all under the shorts. He blushed brightly and turned quickly away not having expected Fionn to just strip like that. He listened to the sounds of fabric rustling and when all was finally silent again, he dared to glance back to see if the Fae was dressed. He was, and back to his kneeling position on the floor. Harry supposed that he had been trained to assume that position when nothing was required of him, it didn't look all that comfortable to _him_ but he wasn't sure how to go about getting him to realize he was safe here. Shortly after that, his door opened and Ash breezed through with three plates.

"Hope grilled cheese sandwiches are okay with you, I didn't feel like doing any real cooking tonight and thought since I didn't know what either of you liked, that these would do." She put two of the plates on Harry's desk and then wandered back out the door, calling over her shoulder as she left. "I'm heading for bed, you can leave the plates on the desk when you're done and we'll deal with them in the morning. Night!"

Shaking his head in amusement, Harry approached the desk and got one of the plates. "Ready for dinner Fionn? Hope this is okay since Ash didn't give us much choice." He held the plate out and waited a moment. Finally the Fae stood and approached, only to sink back to his knees beside the chair. He didn't look up, or even attempt to take the plate from Harry. Frowning slightly, Harry sat down in the chair and held the plate directly in front of Fionn's face. Did he not like grilled cheese? Fionn still didn't move, but now Harry could hear the Fae's tummy growling softly.

"Go on, it's safe, Ash wouldn't poison us. And it's hard to ruin grilled cheese, so even if she can't cook it would be edible..."

Fionn still didn't move, though Harry could see his hands clench slightly where they rested on his knees, as though he wanted to take it but didn't quite dare. Utterly confused by this point, he wondered if perhaps Fionn hadn't been allowed to use plates? Putting the plate back on the desk, he took one half of the sandwich and held that out to Fionn and waited to see if he would take it now. Instead, the Fae lifted his head a little and leaned forward, taking a small bite and chewing before swallowing and looking quickly up at Harry through his fringe as though for permission to continue. Anger smouldered in the back of Harry's brain, to have so degraded another person as to make them only eat from your hand... he just couldn't get his mind around it. Shoving the feeling back down until he could deal with it later, he held the sandwich out again, watching as Fionn repeated his careful movements and ate the rest of the half. Harry fed him the other half of the sandwich, and then half of his own as well before the Fae turned his head away. Harry was no stranger to hunger, and he had wondered when Fionn had last been allowed to eat, which is why he decided to offer his own meal as well. Quickly finishing the last cold half a sandwich, he stood up.

Fionn backed away hurriedly, and then followed Harry to the door by the desk. It was indeed a bathroom. He quickly washed his hands and used the toilet and then went back out into the bedroom, where Fionn was kneeling beside the door.

"You can use the bathroom Fionn, and you don't need to ask, it's right there so go ahead." He was a little surprised when Fionn actually did stand up and enter the bathroom, but pleased that he had gotten some kind of reaction out of him. Heading over to examine the bed and view out the window while he waited for Fionn to come out again, he was slightly disappointed to see that it was now dark out and he couldn't really see anything outside. Turning around, he saw Fionn had managed to silently return and was now curled up on the floor at the foot of the bed as though he was going to spend the night there.

"You can't sleep on the floor. There's a bedroom with a bed next door that's for you, come on, I'll show you." Harry was almost to the door when he realized that Fionn hadn't moved from the foot of the bed. The Fae was actually curled up in a tight ball with his face buried against his knees as though he was about to be punished.

"Er...or you can stay here I guess? But you still can't sleep on the floor. I guess... the bed looks more than big enough for two..."

Fionn peered out through his hair as if judging whether or not he could trust Harry, but not knowing what was being looked for, Harry just looked at him a little helplessly and tugged at his own hair a moment. Turning back to the bed, he pulled back the covers and patted the mattress lightly.

"Come on, the bed's much more comfortable than the floor I'm sure."

Very slowly, Fionn uncurled and crept to the bed, before moving quickly and getting in. He was so quick, Harry almost missed seeing him altogether. One moment he was a few steps away from the bed, and the next he was buried under the blankets with only his white-blonde hair and one golden eye visible. Getting in on the other side, Harry used his wand to turn out the lights and then put the wand on the table beside the bed.

"Goodnight then." No answer, not that he had expected to hear one. He was curious about what the Fae would sound like when he finally did speak, and he hoped he would get to hear him soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how long this fic is going to be, but I keep getting ideas for scenes much farther down the line. So I'm guessing it will be a long one!
> 
> What do you think of my poor broken Fionn?


	6. Shopping And Other Adventures

Harry woke up on his third day in the Realm slowly, still a little drowsy and not sure he actually wanted to be awake. They had spent the last two days in Ash's house trying to get Fionn to trust them, and in Harry's case, learning some of what he needed to control his powers. Neither one of which had been at all easy. His Wizard magic had never been this hard to learn or to control, but his Demon magic seemed to be wilder and less willing to do what he asked of it. So far, the only thing he could get it to do was make a tongue of flame appear on the end of his finger. And that was something Fire Demon _children_ were able to do, at least according to Ash.

Fionn was still shy and skittish around them, he barely spoke, usually only one or two words at a time, and always with hunched shoulders as though waiting for a blow to fall because he dared to speak. He would eat from a plate if Harry ordered him to, but that too was something he seemed to fear. The Fae wouldn't let Harry out of his sight unless Harry was in the bathroom, it was as if he thought that if he took his eyes off of him he would disappear. Though they had yet to catch Fionn actually looking at either of them, he still kept his head bowed and eyes on the floor. Harry was still sharing his bed with the Fae as well, though he had to invite him into it every night or Fionn would attempt to sleep on the floor at the foot like that first night.

Today they were going to venture out and buy clothes, both for Fionn as well as Harry. He was tired of cutting slits down the back of his shirts so his wings could fit, and Ash promised that they could get shirts in the Realm that had spells woven into them that would allow his wings to pass through without damaging the shirts at all. He briefly wondered how his friends were doing, he missed them, but since time moved differently here, they might not even know he was gone yet. Seven days in the Realm was only one day in the mortal world.

Stretching, he opened his eyes and crawled out of the bed. Today would also be a day of food he didn't have to cook, at least he hoped it would be. After the grilled cheese sandwiches of the first night, he quickly found out that Ash hated cooking and usually went out for nearly all of her meals. She kept very little in the way of food stocked, but had just enough odds and ends that he had been able to keep all three of them fed.

"Time to get up Fionn. We're going to get new clothes for you today, and Ash promised it wouldn't be as crowded in the morning as it will be later this afternoon and evening."

The lump at the far side of the bed stirred, and satisfied that Fionn had heard him, Harry went ahead into the bathroom to get ready while the Fae got dressed in the bedroom. Once he was out of the bathroom, they switched places and then met Ash in the hallway.

"Morning Harry! Morning Fionn! Ready to go shopping? I made some toast while I was waiting on you two to get up." She shoved a piece of buttered toast in Harry's and then Fionn's direction, practically bouncing on her toes in her eagerness to leave and start dressing them both up. Harry started to have a bad feeling about this, if Ash was _this_ excited, he wasn't sure he was going to enjoy this shopping trip. But it was too late to change his mind, she was already hurrying out the front door.

By the time Harry caught up with her, they were already almost to the main shopping district. Fionn was sticking so closely to Harry it was as if he had been glued to his side, one hand was even holding tightly to the hem of Harry's shirt. Harry thought he saw a glimpse of one of the Warriors he had seen on his first day, but he couldn't be sure as the man turned and headed down a side street before he'd gotten a good look at him. When they finally entered a clothing store, Harry took one look around and knew Fionn was going to be overwhelmed. Harry himself was afraid he was in over his head. There were racks of clothes occupying most of the store, and a fitting room in the back. But there also seemed to be an area that looked as though you could get things custom-made. Ash had already disappeared into the racks with a happy little squeal.

"Well. I guess that means we're on our own... I don't know what kind of clothes you'd like to wear Fionn, but I'm sure we can find you something. Tell me if you see anything you want and I'll get it, if you don't, Ash is likely to come up with something and I'm sure you've seen enough of her by now to know why that's a bad idea." He let his voice take on a hint of a teasing tone as he spoke about Ash, and hoped that Fionn wasn't going to freeze up. 

This was probably a bit soon to spring on him, but he really couldn't go on wearing Harry's clothes. As he maneuvered their way through the racks, picking up shirts and a few pairs of pants for himself, Harry realized they had managed to end up in the fancier area of racks. Dress shirts and dress pants, leather pants and jackets, suits and ties. As he turned to pick another direction, he realized that Fionn had reached out one finger and was lightly touching one of the white, long sleeved dress shirts.

"Did you want that? Is it your size and all?"

The moment he spoke, Fionn yanked his hand away and put it behind his back like he was going to get smacked for touching. Harry sighed softly and picked up the shirt. It felt like it was made of silk, and had tiny white buttons down the front, as well as two buttons on each cuff. He checked the size, then held it out towards the Fae.

"Try it on, it's quite soft and I know it will look good on you."

Fionn hesitated for a long moment, before finally taking the shirt. He stripped off the one he was wearing, and put the dress shirt on, doing up the tiny buttons with hardly a fumble. It actually fit him quite well, and Harry decided to pick up a few of them, and got another three in white then looked to see what other colors they had.

"Do you want any in red, purple, or green? There's a dark blue in your size as well." No answer came. "If you don't tell me, I'll just grab a few of each color..."

"J-just white." The voice was soft, barely audible, and carried a quality of long disuse, but at least Fionn was finally speaking.

"Alright then. What about pants? Jeans? Leather? Dress pants? Shorts? What would you like to wear?"

Another long pause as Harry gathered up an armful of the white silk dress shirts. Fionn seemed to be having an internal struggle about whether or not he should continue to speak. 

"J-jeans...one leather?" The Fae cringed the moment he asked, but Harry pretended to ignore it and headed towards the appropriate racks.

"I don't know your size, so you're going to have to go through these yourself. And then use the fitting room to try them on, you can't take your pants off in public." Harry blushed to even have to mention that, but was sure if he hadn't, Fionn would have just stripped down.

Finally done with their selections, they approached the counter and Harry paid for it all with his Gringotts card. There was still no sight of Ash, and with the number of bags they had he didn't really want to wait much longer.

"Ash! We're done, hurry up, you promised us lunch!"

"Okay, okay already! So impatient!" She finally appeared carrying a tower of clothes and dumped them on the counter. "And please have these as well as their stuff delivered to my house. It's 1619 Cirrus Court." Snatching the bags from Harry's hands, she passed them over the counter to the clerk and then herded them out of the store.

"It's such a nice day, and we've been cooped up in the house so long, I think we should visit the park. You two can get settled and people-watch, and I'll bring us all back some food." 

Luckily the park didn't seem to be far from where they were, just down a side street and a few blocks over. Ash left them sitting under the shade of a large willow tree and dashed off again. Fionn sat huddled against Harry's side, and he found himself absently petting the Fae's hair. It was strange how quickly he had gotten used to having Fionn around, as well as his strange reactions to the most normal of things. But he was making progress, hopefully one day soon he would truly believe that Harry wasn't going to harm him. As he was lost in thought, a childish squeal rang out over their end of the park.

A little girl ran past them, long red-orange hair, like a sunset, streaming behind her. A young man with cornflower blue hair, chased after her and caught her around the waist, hiking her up off the ground and swinging her in the air.

"Trist! Again! Swing me again!"

"Celly, I've already swung you more times than I can count! You're going to wear me out, and then what will I do when I have to go back to work?"

"Don't want you to go to work. You're always tired and mommy and daddy say you do too much." Her lower lip stuck out in an adorable pout. 

Harry lost what the young man - her brother? - said in response as Ash came back carrying three bowls and forks. Setting a bowl in front of each of them, she flopped down in the grass on Harry's other side and started to eat happily. Even Fionn slowly reached for the food, but Harry couldn't get past the fact that it was bright _purple_ and seemed to have lumps of something that were darker purple under the sauce. He poked it cautiously with the fork and when it didn't move on it's own, and didn't seem to be poisoning his companions, he finally took a very tentative bite. 

The flavor burst along his tongue, it wasn't quite like anything he had ever eaten before, slightly spicy but also sweet. The lumps had the consistency of a potato and were quite good. It didn't take him long to finish the bowl.

"What was that? Is it something only made in the Realm?"

"Purple yams in a sweet pepper sauce Harry. I think it's made in the mortal realm as well, but it's quite popular as a snack here. Now that we've shopped and eaten, I think it's time for a nap. Then we can decide where else we want to go." Ash wasn't really tired at all, but Fionn looked like he needed more time to relax, and she couldn't think of an easier way than to have him sleep his nerves off a while. Harry glanced over at Fionn as well before nodding and laying back and staring up at the leaves overhead. The little girl and her companion had wandered off out of sight sometime during their meal, so it was once again just the three of them.


	7. Healer's Visit

"Concentrate! Imagine the flame as a ball in the center of your hand."

"I _am_ concentrating! This is hard Ash, much harder than learning my Wizard magic, and even most of that I can't say was a cake walk." Harry ran his hand through his hair in frustration, it was already standing out from his head in an even bigger mess than usual from the amount of times he had done so in the last few hours. He could get the flame to appear, but he couldn't seem to make it take on any shape for the life of him. 

Ash frowned and took a step back, her eyes narrowing slightly as she seemed to look _through_ him. She finally shook her head and sighed.

"All right, this isn't getting us anywhere, and the last thing we need is you losing control when you don't seem to have any in the first place. We'd better take you down to the Healing Quarter and see if anyone can figure out why you're having issues."

Harry just nodded, too frustrated by his lack of progress to even object all that strongly to having to go to a Healer. Ash had already assured him earlier that it wasn't because they were of different elements, anyone who wanted to become a Guide had to go through tests and training. They were all trained in the basics of control for each Element, and no one was allowed to become a Guide who hadn't passed. He was still a little amazed that she had managed to pass her tests, considering how easily bored and distracted she was.

As he followed Ash through the house, Fionn slid through the door of the library where he had been waiting through Harry's lesson, and fell into step just behind Harry and to his left. It had been deemed safer for the Fae to _not_ be in the room while Harry was learning, for everyone's sake. They left the house and turned down a street Harry hadn't investigated yet, it went in the opposite direction of the park and the main shopping area. Ash was humming softly to herself and seemed to be paying no attention to where they were going, but Harry didn't bother to ask her if they were taking the scenic route. If they were, he didn't want to know, his head was already throbbing from the training they had been doing and he really, _really_ didn't want to give her any ideas about livening things up if she didn't already have them.

It seemed like they walked for a much longer time than it had taken them to get to any of the other places Ash had dragged them to. And the path they were on sloped downwards, it was quite curious. But at long last, a Square came into view. All the buildings were many-storied, and had the look of offices, or other business-type structures. And yet, they had the curves and flowing lines he had come to expect to see on the buildings in the Realm. Ash headed towards one that was about four stories tall, and had plants scattered around in pots around the base of the stairs leading to the front door. Once they got inside, she went straight for the desk and the Water Demon sitting typing something into a computer.

"Emergency or check-up?" The brunette didn't even look up from his computer screen as he asked the question, it looked like he was updating another patient's medical record as he kept flipping through a stapled form on his desk, but Harry couldn't read it from their angle.

"Check-up."

The receptionist finally put the form into a box on his desk where it vanished, and then he looked up at them. "All three of you?"

"No, just Harry for now." Ash motioned to Harry and the receptionist pulled out another form.

"Fill this out and turn it back in when you're done, a Healer should be available shortly afterwards."

Ash took the form and a pen out of the cup on the desk, and headed for a row of empty seats with Harry and Fionn following her. She quickly began to fill out the form, asking Harry a question every now and then. He was a little surprised that she wasn't making him do it himself, but figured she must want this done with quickly, and her handwriting was better than his was. Once it was complete, she dropped it back with the receptionist and they all went back to waiting.

There weren't as many patients waiting in the room as Harry had expected. A young girl with bronze hair and eyes sat looking scared diagonally across from them, a woman who looked like her mother was with her holding her hand and murmuring softly to her. Two young men with Warriors braids were on the other side of the room, one was favoring his left wing. And a quartet of...Djinn? Harry wasn't sure, but whatever they were, they looked grim and were waiting impatiently. None of them looked hurt, but he didn't wish to draw their attention so didn't look all that closely. Fionn wasn't holding on to him, but he was sitting as closely as the chairs allowed them. They sat for perhaps twenty minutes before a young woman with pink hair popped her head through one of the doors and called for them. She led them down a hall and turned the corner before stopping at a door.

"Healer Hawthorne will be with you shortly." She waved them into the room, smiled brightly and then left again, closing the door softly behind herself.

Ash immediately took possession of the only chair in the room, leaving Harry to perch on the edge of the examination table. Fionn glanced briefly at the round, wheeled stool, and then lightly dropped to his knees on the floor near Harry's feet.

"You don't have to sit on the floor Fionn, I'm sure the Healer won't mind if you use the stool, at least until he arrives." Harry said, his voice a little perplexed as he thought they had managed to get past that particular quirk in Fionn's personality. There were still a lot of things they needed to fix, but he _had_ thought sitting on the floor at his feet was one they'd already covered.

Fionn just shook his head slightly, and spoke in a soft voice. "Don't want to be a bother."

Before Harry could come up with a suitable response, the door in the back of the room opened and a man bustled into the room. He had short cornflower blue hair, and his eyes when he got close enough for Harry to see them, were a dark midnight blue. He was wearing a light green vest with a short sleeved darker green shirt on underneath, the pants were the same shade as the vest. He seemed familiar, but Harry couldn't quite place why.

The Fae paused a moment when he saw Fionn kneeling on the floor, but other than raising a single eyebrow, he didn't comment on it. He just smiled at them all and clasped his hands in front of him. "Hello! I'm Healer Hawthorne, but please call me Tristan. I see by your file that this is your first visit to a Healer's in the Realm. I imagine it won't be too different than a Wizarding check-up, at least in the basics of things. Was there anything specific you came in for, or is it time for your annual visit?"

"I'd like you to check to see if anything is wrong with him magically, he hasn't been able to do even the simplest of his Fire training exercises." 

Ash spoke up before Harry could even get his mouth open enough to say anything, he rolled his eyes and decided not to try to say anything unless Ash got distracted by something shiny. Fionn stood fluidly and moved silently towards the corner Ash was sitting in, so he was out of the Healer's way.

Tristan for his part frowned slightly and looked at Harry with his head tilted towards the left a bit. "How long have you been doing the exercises Harry?"

"Almost a week now. I can call fire, but I can't make it do anything once I have it." His face burned, he felt stupid that he couldn't do something even children were capable of doing.

"That...doesn't make any sense." Healer Tristan opened a drawer and pulled out a dull-looking black stone, it was about an inch and a half in diameter. "Hold this and imagine your Fire filling it up. Don't force your power into it, just let it trickle in like liquid fire."

Harry took the stone and looked at it dubiously, then shrugged and concentrated on doing what the Healer had said. The stone glowed ever so faintly from within, but nothing else happened. It didn't even grow warm or anything. 

Healer Tristan snatched it out of Harry's hand and tossed it back in the drawer before pulling out what looked suspiciously like a hat pin. He then took down a copper bowl from a cabinet, and two beakers. Pouring a little of each beaker into the bowl, he mixed them together quickly with the hat pin, before rinsing the pin off in the sink. Then he carried both the bowl and pin over to Harry and held out the pin. "I'll need three drops of your blood into the bowl please."

Harry gingerly took the pin and held his left index finger over the bowl before stabbing it with the pin. Blood welled up immediately and he winced before letting three drops fall.

Healer Tristan whisked the bowl and pin back off to the counter where he swirled the mixture around a few times. Reaching to his left, he opened another drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper, he then dumped the contents of the bowl onto the paper and waited as it seemed to be sucked into it. He read the writing that appeared and blinked twice before turning back to Harry.

"You have a spell tied into your magic, both Wizarding and Demon. However it seems to concentrate mostly on the Demon magics, which would explain why you are having issues using your powers. This particular spell has been tied to you for so long, it will be very difficult to unravel. It would be easier if there was a physical component... Do you have any tattoos? Or scars that you don't remember exactly how you got? Especially magical scars?"

"I have my curse scar, from when Voldemort tried to kill me as a baby..." Harry was in a bit of shock. While he was glad that Healer Tristan had possibly found the issue, he wasn't sure how he felt about the fact that someone had basically put a lock on his powers. He knew he'd end up being angry about it once the shock wore off, and didn't want to set the hospital on fire, so maybe if he just didn't think about it too hard for right now... 

He lifted his fringe so the Healer could see his curse scar and shoved his thoughts away for the moment.

Healer Tristan looked at the scar, then held his hand out hovering just above Harry's skin. His hand glowed softly and the scar felt warm and prickly, then he dropped his hand and shook his head. "That one is tied into the spell as well, but it isn't the source. If you don't know of any others, we're going to have to look for glamor charms. And to do that I'll need you to strip. Do you want your Guide or your mate to remain in here for that?"

Harry's eyes widened and he blushed, he was going to have to strip? And in front of a near-complete stranger? Then he quickly shook his head. 

"N-no. I'd rather they didn't stay for that. And Fionn's not my mate." He'd almost missed that in his embarrassment, but while Fionn wasn't his slave, he most certainly wasn't his mate either. Not that Harry thought he'd mind that thought as much as he did when Ash first spoke about mates, but he still wasn't sure he was ready. Regardless, Fionn was too broken. He refused to do anything while the Fae followed him around and treated him like he was his Master. It wouldn't be right.

"All right then, everyone out. You can come back in after we're done."

Surprisingly, Ash just stood up and led Fionn out without a protest, apparently she had no more wish to see him without his clothes than Harry had for her to see him that way. After she left, Healer Tristan busied himself tidying the counter, cleaning and putting away the various things he had pulled out earlier. Harry was grateful that his back was turned as he got undressed, even if he'd be seeing him in just his boxers soon enough. When he put the last item on the examination table, he shifted his feet nervously. "I'm done..."

Healer Tristan turned around and didn't blink or look at him with anything other than a professional eye. "Now Harry, you saw what I did with your scar? I'm going to have to do the same with the rest of you. If I don't find anything, we'll have to try again without your boxers."

Harry thought his face was going to combust, he was blushing so hard, and dearly hoped that Healer Tristan would find the source of the spell _without_ him having to get totally nude to do it!

Healer Tristan took a deep breath and seemed to center himself, then raised his right hand and started to pass the glowing appendage about an inch above Harry's skin. He started with Harry's face, and moved to his neck, then both arms, chest, tummy, legs. He then circled around Harry and did the back of his head, back of his neck, backs of his arms, back, and then stopped. Harry felt gentle fingers lightly tug the top of his boxers down just slightly, and then a feather-light touch on the small of his back. He felt that warm, prickly sensation again, but much stronger this time, and it was coming from the area Healer Tristan had traced.

"Found it. It looks like someone has spelled a brand of some kind into your back. I'm sorry, but I have never come across anything like it before. I'm going to take an imprint, which is like a picture done by magic, of the brand and with your permission, show it to a few colleagues of mine who have been practicing longer than I have. The moment I know what it is, and what it's supposed to do, we can figure out exactly how to remove it without damaging your or your magics. Is that all right with you?"

"I-yes. I want it gone, so do what you need to do."

Harry felt the tingling sensation grow stronger, and then Healer Tristan was stepping away from him and telling him he could get dressed again.

"I'll take this around right away, we'll hopefully know something soon. So go ahead and meet your Guide and set up another appointment with me in say...a week. If I find out anything sooner than that, I'll get in touch with you and we can move up your appointment. Don't worry Harry, it's fixable."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so Trist appears. He is not currently slated as a potential mate for Harry, in case anyone was wondering. *grins* Next chapter, a look back into the Wizarding World. Unless any of you have objections/wishes for something else in the Realm first, or my muse decides something else _needs_ to happen here first...


	8. Visiting the Twins

After the latest twist in the 'this could only happen to me' soap opera that Harry called his life, he decided that what he really wanted to do was to go see some familiar faces. It would have been almost two days in the Wizarding World since he had left it, so his friends would have hopefully received his messages by now. But as much as he wanted to see them, the last thing he wanted to deal with was more drama. Which pretty much left Ron out for the moment, the red-head was just as likely to go off on him for skipping out with only a note, as he was to accept Harry popping over for a visit with Ash and Fionn in tow. That also meant he couldn't go visit Hermione. She'd freak out on him in worry first, and then go into research mode about his Demon status, and Fionn's Fae heritage, and the Realm, and anything else she could think of. Which left him with Fred and George.

He knew they'd be worried about him as well of course, but unlike Ron and Hermione, they wouldn't grill him about everything that had happened. He could count on them to check and be sure he was fine, which he was, mostly. And then they'd do their best to cheer him up and make him laugh. They might even have a few ideas on the brand on his back, what it might be and how to get rid of it. Sure, Healer Tristan said the Realm Healers would be able to get rid of it, but he had also said he had never seen anything like it. If nothing else, it wouldn't hurt to _ask_ the twins if they had any ideas.

After Harry had gotten all that sorted in his head, he focused on his surroundings again and blushed a little as he realized that Fionn was waiting patiently, and Ash not-so-patiently for him to rejoin them. Ash had already gotten his next Healer's visit sorted, and was twitching her wings and examining her nails in obvious boredom.

"Sorry. Way too much to think about, especially with this last fun twist in my life. Uh, I was wondering if we could go visit some of my friends? You'd like the Weasley twins, they're pranksters and own their own magical joke shop..." He wasn't actually sure introducing Ash to the twins was in his best interests, but since he couldn't get _himself_ there as yet he didn't really have a choice...

"Magical joke shop? That sounds like _fun!_ " Ash's eyes lit up and she actually rubbed her hands together in glee. "Oh, but if we're going back to the mortal Realm, we're going to have to wear glamors. Can't just show up and expect not to get hunted down and staked. Plus I don't actually know where we're going, so I can't just pop us into their house or store or whatever."

"They're in Diagon Alley, number 93."

Ash just nodded and looked at Harry carefully a moment, then she reached out and traced a wavy line in the air with one finger, starting just above the level of his head, and ending about waist-high. He felt a gentle breeze blow past him, and then it was over. Before he could ask what she was doing, she repeated the gesture, only this time her finger pointed at herself, and Harry saw her wings, horns and claws seem to vanish.

"There, that should do it. Fionn won't need a glamor as his looks aren't as obviously non-human. Gather round now, I want to see this magical joke shop!" Ash gathered them close to her, Harry on her left and Fionn on her right. She held Harry around the waist with her left arm, and Harry held Fionn as Ash raised her right arm and called Air. Moments later they appeared in an empty alley between two stores, Harry immediately recognized Diagon Alley when they stepped out onto the main street and led the way to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.

As they entered the shop, he saw it was packed with people, but there was no sign of the twins anywhere. A girl was working the cash register, he supposed it was Verity, the twins assistant, but he had never met her. Making his way through the crowd, he drew Fionn along with him, Ash had already taken off and was looking at all the products in fascination.

"Excuse me, but where are Fred and George?"

Verity looked over quickly and then back at what she was doing. "Sorry, they aren't here today, had to work on a few things. Come back tomorrow, they might be in then."

"Can you tell me where they are? I really needed to talk to them today, and I know they'll want to see me."

"Look, it's busy right now and Fred and George are busy too. Try back tomorrow."

Harry sighed, he didn't want to announce who he was in front of all these people, he'd never get out of here. As it was, he was surprised no one had recognized him yet. Well, he knew how to get to the twins flat above the store, if they weren't in the workshop in the back they might be upstairs. And if they weren't there, he'd have to try back some other time. He waited until Verity was distracted by another customer, and then towed Fionn to a door marked "Employee's Only". Taking another quick look around, he ducked through it and shut it quickly after Fionn. The noise of the shop was instantly silenced and he headed down the short hall to the workshop. It was empty, as was the storage room beside it. So he climbed the stairs leading to Fred and George's flat. At the top he knocked and then waited. After a moment he knocked again. Just as he was deciding no one was home after all, the door was yanked open and Fred appeared looking grumpy.

"I told you we're busy today! Wha-- Harry?!" Fred's eyes widened comically and then he was dragging Harry inside, Fionn was pulled along as well as Harry hadn't let go of him yet, and the door was slammed shut and locked behind them.

"We got your letter, but we weren't sure what to make of it. Ron is right pissed you know, I wouldn't visit the Burrow for a while at least until he cools down." Fred hugged Harry quickly and then held him at arm's length as he continued to talk. Fionn moved slightly behind Harry during this as he was still a little iffy about new people, especially loud exuberant ones like Fred. 

"Who's this then?"

"Fred this is Fionn, he's a Fae from the Realm. Fionn, this is Fred Weasley, don't ever eat anything he gives you."

"Oi! I'm hurt, Harry, hurt!" Fred seemed to be his usual self, but something felt off. His eyes weren't quite as cheerful as usual, the twinkle of mischief was completely missing, and Harry didn't see George anywhere in the main room. Harry frowned slightly.

"Fred, where's George? Is everything okay? You and Verity both said you were busy, did I interrupt you in the middle of testing?"

"No... George is... Well he's in the bedroom. Mum wasn't any too happy when she found out that we had the funds to start this place. It didn't help that we didn't tell her until after we opened, but we were hoping she'd be a little happier for us since the business is doing so well." The smile fell off Fred's face and his shoulders drooped a little, but he also looked a little angry and that wasn't something Harry was used to seeing on the face of either twin. 

It worried him a bit, enough that he took the few steps between him and the bedroom door and opened it without asking Fred if he could. The room was dim, the curtains drawn even though it was the middle of the day, only a single candle lit on one of the night tables near the head of the bed. As Harry's eyes adjusted, he saw George sitting on the side of the bed with his shoulders hunched and one hand covering his face. He didn't move, not even when Harry called his name softly. Harry walked slowly into the room, stopping only when he stood directly before George. Kneeling on the floor, he looked up but still couldn't see George's face.

"George? Do you want to talk about it?"

George finally moved, dropping his hand into his lap and lifting his head to look at Harry. And that was when Harry saw the livid purple hand print on George's left cheek. It stood out against the fair skin, and looked recent as well as extremely painful. Harry sucked in a breath in shock and then his eyes narrowed. He didn't even notice when the candle flame tripled in height, he was too angry that someone had _hurt George_. He was going to find out who had done it and then they were going to _pay._

"Who did it? Who _hit_ you?" He wasn't paying attention to anything but George now, though in the back of his head a thought was running around saying it had been a bad idea to leave Ash downstairs.

"Mum. She said--" George winced and broke off, talking was apparently painful.

"She said that the shop wouldn't amount to anything, that it would be a useless waste of money. And that she wished she'd never given birth to such twisted and sick sons as us." Fred said flatly. He had followed Harry into the room, and stood near the doorway.

"Twisted and sick? Because you opened a joke shop?" Harry shook his head, even in his anger, this wasn't making any sense to him at all. Fred crossed his arms and slowly shook his head.

"Twisted and sick because we're dating each other."

"Well of course you are. You're one soul in two bodies. Hermione looked it up once in third year, I don't remember much, but you two fit all the bits the book had about how to tell."

"We are? I mean, we do? I mean, that would explain a lot really..." Fred looked surprised and then thoughtful.

Fionn had remained mostly forgotten through all of this, but as the tension died down, he crept a little closer to the bed and Harry and George. His eyes flickered a little as though he was battling something inside himself, and then very slowly he reached out and lightly touched George's cheek right in the middle of the hand print. Before George had time to jerk away, Fionn's fingers began to glow a soft gold and warmth rushed into George's cheek, taking all the pain with it. When Fionn dropped his hand and slid back behind Harry again, nothing was left of the bruise that had been there but seconds before. Harry's mouth opened in shock, and Fred moved quickly over to the bed to see for himself.

"F-Fionn. How did you do that?"

Fionn just shook his head and dropped to his knees so he could press his face into Harry's back. Harry sighed softly and shrugged a shoulder at the twins. "Fionn is Fae, I'm going to guess that either this is something all Fae can do, or it's Fionn-specific and we won't get answers about it from Fionn either way. He's been badly abused and still getting used to the fact that Ash and I aren't going to hurt him, or let anyone else hurt him anymore." Harry ran soothing fingers through Fionn's hair as he explained to the twins what little he knew.

"Who is Ash?" George looked up to see if there was anyone else in the room with them, Fred shrugged in answer.

"Ash is my Guide. She took one look at your store and went all toddler in a candy store, I don't expect to see her for another few hours at this rate. She's an Air Demon and I don't know if it's normal for her type, but she's easily distracted by shiny things, and thinks the strangest things are 'fun.' That's how I found Fionn, the first thing she did after we got to the Realm was take me to a...Brothel." Harry's face turned red, both at the thought and at the fact that he had just confessed that to _the twins!_ He was never going to live this down. Indeed, Fred and George had identical evil grins on their faces.

"Did ickle Harrykins have _fun_?"

"Yes, did Harrykins finally change his status?" Fred's eyebrows wiggled up and down as he and George leered at Harry.

"I knew telling you that would be a bad idea. And _no_ , I did not have fun. I bought Fionn to get him out of there and then made Ash take me somewhere else. On a completely different note, I actually _did_ have a reason to visit you two. Besides letting you know I really was fine and all."

The twins stood up in unison and pulled Harry, and thus Fionn, up off the floor as well. "Then let us adjourn back to the living room, more light and seating and all that in there." Fred linked arms with Harry and led him off, and George did the same with Fionn. The Fae looked a little confused but wasn't actually objecting to being dragged off by a virtual stranger, Harry supposed that was progress. They all ended up squished onto the couch with a twin on each end.

"What was it you wanted Harry? Products? Pranking help?"

"Uh... well, not exactly. Apparently I didn't just end up with a Demon Inheritance, oh no, that wasn't bad enough. Ash took me to the Healer's today because I couldn't get my Demon magics to work and we found out there's some kind of brand on my back that's tied into my magic. Specifically, it's suppressing my Demon Magics, and a bit of my Wizarding magics as well. I was wondering if you two had heard of anything like that before?"

Fred and George looked at each other, almost seeming to have a conversation in nothing but the way their faces twitched. An eyebrow raised here, a shrug there. Finally they looked back at Harry and spoke.

"Not that we can think of, but maybe seeing this brand would help."

Harry had known this was going to happen sooner or later, so he got off the couch and turned his back to them. He hoped Ash's glamor didn't cover the brand as well as his Demon attributes. Pulling his shirt off over his head he pointed to where Healer Tristan had said the brand was and waited. Soon he felt two sets of fingers lightly tracing over the marks, and a murmured conversation was fired back and forth, he only caught a word or two of it and nothing that made sense. Finally the fingers withdrew and he put his shirt back on before facing them all again.

"It's strong magic, but nothing we've ever seen before. Sorry Harry, we could look into it though if you like?"

"Nah, it's okay. My Realm Healer said he was going to show it to more senior Healers and he was sure they could get it unraveled. You have enough to worry about with the shop, I just thought it was worth a try. Speaking of, if Molly gets worse, or you need somewhere to escape to, contact the Goblins. They'll get a message to me and I'll come and get you. One day here is seven days in the Realm, so you won't have to wait long for me to arrive if you _do_ need me. I mean it. Promise you'll contact me if you need to." He tried to look stern, but had the feeling it came off more like a kitten trying to intimidate a wolf or a tiger. He'd grown with his Inheritance, but was still quite short for a male his age.

"We promise Harry." 

"But I don't think it'll come to that." Fred said and shrugged. Just then the door leading up from the shop thumped open and Ash appeared looking way too Happy for Harry's state of mind. She was also completely loaded down with bags. 

"This place is _wonderful!_ We need one in the Realm. Just _think_ of all the _fun_ I'm going to have with all this stuff!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For what it's worth, I don't actually hate Molly. Or Ron or Dumbledoor for that matter. But I needed some bad guys for the fic and this is where the plot bunny ran.
> 
> I know, I'm horrible to my poor characters. Happy stuff will happen again too at some point, promise! Comments and suggestions are wonderful things, and I may add in requests/ideas if they work with my plot. Nothing is currently pre-written, I'm working on chapters after I get off work at night.


	9. Explanations

After Ash was settled in a chair, happily going through her purchases and mumbling to herself about who she was going to try them out on, Fred turned back towards Harry.

"Got a few questions of our own for you Harry."

"Demon Inheritance?"

"The Realm?"

"Fae?"

"Just _what_ have you managed to land yourself into this time?" 

Harry squirmed a little in his seat, he knew Fred and George did it on purpose to confuse people, but he'd always been able to tell them apart for some strange reason. His current embarrassment came from the fact that he'd managed to blurt out so much, and all without remembering that he hadn't actually _told_ them about any of this yet. He ran a hand through his hair and gave them a sheepish smile.

"Uh, oops? I kinda forgot I hadn't actually mentioned any of that yet..."

"Oops? You hear that Gred? Dropping bombshells like that and all he can say is 'oops?'" Fred shook his head in mock-disapproval.

"I heard it Forge. You'd think after everything we taught him, he could come up with a better line than 'oops.'" George leaned on his twin, looking sadly over at Harry. They held the pose for less than a minute before cracking up.

"So spill already, what happened this time?"

"Yeah, don't leave us in suspense!"

"Well... The short version is, I woke up on my birthday and Ash was waiting to tell me I'd had a Demon Inheritance, and she was going to be my Guide. It's kind of like a teacher for all things Demonic. Then I went to Gringotts to get some money and found out that I hadn't been getting my statements, and had more vaults than I'd been told about. The Goblin I spoke to froze my accounts while they looked into what was going on. Oh, but I got a charge card that will still work in the meantime. And from there Ash took me to the Realm, which is basically another dimension where Demons, Fae, Incubi and Succubi live...there's Djinn and Gargoyles there too. Uhm..." Harry paused a moment, trying to sort through what all else had happened. "Oh yeah, and then I ended up buying Fionn because he'd been sold to a Brothel and I thought he was a slave but Ash says it's more like indentured servants. And after that we went to a Healer because I couldn't get my Demon magics to work. But I told you about that already. And we came to visit you."

The twins blinked once slowly, then looked at each other. " _That_ was the short version? And this all happened in the last 2 days?" It was never a good sign when they spoke at the same time. Harry tugged his hair a bit and squirmed again.

"Kinda? Time runs differently in the Realm than it does here. One day here is seven days there, so a lot more can happen in the same amount of time?" Harry's eyes widened suddenly and he turned towards Ash.

"Ash! I forgot I had to go back to see Healer Tristan, don't let me forget and spend all day here or I'll miss my appointment!"

Ash looked up from her bags and rolled her eyes. "Relax Harry. One day, twenty-four hours. You've been in this realm for, two hours at the most. We still have plenty of time. And since you're trusting these two, I have to say I _hate_ wearing glamors." With that, Ash did the same gesture she'd used to put the glamors on them, but in reverse, and suddenly Harry was sitting there with all his Demon attributes visible again, as were Ash's own.

He quickly stood up from the couch as his wings were getting squished into the cushions. The twins didn't have any stools or chairs made for those with wings, so he finally ended up leaning against the arm of the couch nearest Fionn.

"Wicked..." Fred and George breathed. They got up and circled around Harry again, looking closely at all the changes. Fred reached out and ran a hand down one of Harry's wings, eyes lit up in curiosity. While George noticed the horns and Harry's slit-pupiled eyes.

Harry for his part, was suddenly feeling like a zoo specimen. He liked the twins a lot, but having their full, undivided attention was a bit unnerving. And he'd had _no idea_ his wings were that sensitive! Ash and Fionn had touched them a few times since his inheritance, but neither of them had done it deliberately. The touches had been fleeting, over with before he really registered much, but Fred was _petting_ them like he was some kind of cat. It felt... _really_ good. And that was contributing to the squirmy feeling in the pit of his stomach. When George reached out to lightly touch one of the horns on his head, Harry couldn't help the full body shudder that suddenly hit him. He swallowed hard before trying to edge away.

"Uh, guys?"

George glanced down and his eyes widened suddenly at seeing the look on Harry's face. His own face got a bit of a pink tint, and he quickly knocked Fred's hand away from Harry's wings.

"Oi! I wasn't done looking Gred! If you wanted a turn you could have just said so!" 

"The petting zoo is closed for the day Forge." George gave a meaningful look to his twin, glancing quickly towards Harry and then back to Fred. Fred blinked in puzzlement a moment and then his face took on the same pink tint George's had.

"Oh.. OH! Yeah. Sorry about that Harry. Guess we got a little carried away there. We've just never seen a guy with wings before."

"It's okay. That just felt kinda weird, I'm not a house kneezle you know."

Ash was snickering into one of the bags on her lap, for once not about to say anything in case her new toys were taken away before she could use them. A moment later she was straightening up, right hand held out palm upwards as though cupping something. Right after that, a glowing blue ball appeared in her hand, the light pulsing for a few moments before vanishing.

"Sorry all, we're going to have to go back to the Realm. That was work calling, I have a job I need to go out and do. Time-sensitive and all that." 

She stood quickly and motioned for Harry and Fionn to come over. "Say you're goodbyes quick, you can come back and visit later, or I'll pop them over for a visit or something."

Harry was a little surprised, in the nearly two Realm weeks that he'd known Ash, she had never once spoken of having a job. Sure, he'd wondered what, if anything, she did for a living, but it hadn't come up. And this Ash was a very different Ash to the one he was used to. 

"I guess I'll be seeing you around then. Remember you can get in touch with me via Gringotts."

Fred and George tousled Harry's hair and gave him quick one-armed hugs. "Yeah sure Harry, we'll be seeing you. We still have lots of stuff to ask you about." Fred grinned.

And then Harry was stepping into Ash's embrace with Fionn, she invoked Air and they were in the main room of Ash's home.

"I hopefully won't be gone too long, but I'll have to travel to the mortal realm for this job, so who knows how long I'll be gone from the Realm. Don't go anywhere I haven't already taken you, stay together, and _don't_ miss your Healer's appointment! If anyone gives you any trouble, tell them I'm your Guide and that I had to leave temporarily. They can take up any issues with me when I get back. I will try to finish this quickly so I can go to the appointment with you, but in case I can't, do everything Healer Tristan tells you to do." Ash said all of this quickly and a little sternly, then before Harry had much time to process everything, she had invoked Air again and was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little shorter than usual, but it fit to end it there. A little more interaction with the twins, and in the next chapter (or the one after that?) we'll get to see just what Ash does for a living. Also, another meeting with certain Warrior Demons...


	10. Cage Match

Harry was bored, Ash had been gone for a few Realm days, and he still had two more days until his Healer's appointment. He'd been good so far, sticking to Ash's house, or the park they'd gone to his first week in the Realm. But he was still _bored._ Right now he and Fionn were at the edge of the park, he'd been tired of being cooped up in the house, and was sure Fionn must be as well. But he didn't really want to be _here_ either. As he looked around, trying to decide on something they could do that they hadn't done so far, he thought he saw a familiar face. Without really stopping to think about it, he turned away from the park and started to follow.

After a few turns down side streets he didn't recognize, Fionn finally worked up the courage to tug at Harry's sleeve and speak.

"Ash said not to go anywhere we haven't been already... I don't recognize this area..." 

"It's okay Fionn, we're not going much farther. I saw someone I know and he was headed this way. He just went in there." Harry pointed at a two-story building to their right. "I just want to say hi, and then we can go back to the park, or the house or something." He gave Fionn's arm a reassuring squeeze, and then walked right up and entered the building.

Whatever he had been expecting, this was _not_ it. There were a bunch of people packed into the room, from what he could see, a great many of them appeared to be Warrior Demons. Being short meant he couldn't see what was going on, but that didn't seem to matter. Before he could decide this had been a bad idea after all, the crowd surged forward, pulling Harry and Fionn with it. Soon they were standing near the front, and Harry could see... Well, he wasn't sure what he was looking at. It looked almost like a bird cage, only it was easily big enough to fit three average-sized cars side-by-side inside of it. And there was what looked like a sturdier version of chicken wire covering the outside of the bars, with a single large gate like door a few feet to his left. The floor of the cage was two feet below the level of the floor in the rest of the room.

Just as he finished his examination, a large Storm Demon stepped from the crowd and entered the cage. Shortly after that, a purple-haired Shadow Demon followed him. He looked familiar to Harry, but was not the person Harry had followed to get to this place. It was hard to hear over the crowd, but it sounded like the two demons were going to fight each other. Harry missed hearing why they were fighting, if it was for money or some other reason. But the moment the fight started, he couldn't take his eyes off it. It was fascinating, and a little frightening. Both Demons used not only their claws and, what Harry considered 'normal' fighting moves, but they used their powers as well. 

Lighting crackled and then arced off the Storm Demon's wings, narrowly missing the Shadow Demon. A mass of blackness coalesced, and then launched at the Storm Demon's face. Thunder rolled, the smell of ozone was thick in the air, and suddenly both Demons had launched themselves and were battling it out in the air. Diving and rolling as they attacked each other, they moved so quickly and so fluidly it was hard to tell which one was winning and which was losing. But finally, the Storm Demon fell to the floor of the cage and the Shadow Demon yelled in victory.

Fionn was pressed tightly to Harry's side, as though he was afraid of being carried off by the crowd. Harry wrapped an arm and a wing around the Fae to be sure they weren't separated, but otherwise tried not to move from his place. He wasn't exactly sure where the door was from here, or how to get back to the areas they knew, but in any event, their best bet would be to wait for the crowd to die down a bit before trying to get anywhere. 

The Shadow Demon came out of the cage, and a brown-haired Earth Demon hurried past Harry towards the cage. As he passed, someone in the crowd stumbled, knocking into the Earth Demon, who then knocked into Harry. He had a sudden feeling of deja vu as his arm was grabbed, sparing all three a fall to the ground. As he looked up into hazel eyes, he suddenly realized where he had seen this Warrior before.

"You, I know you. We met my first day here, didn't we?"

The Earth Demon looked at him thoughtfully a moment, and then recognition seemed to dawn for him as well. "You're the one with an Air Guide. And I see you've already managed to find a mate." He grinned down at them, eyes flicking briefly to Harry's wings as he searched the crowd. "Or am I mistaken? I don't see the claiming studs, but...and where _is_ your Guide? I wouldn't think she would have left you on your own at a Cage Match, but Air can be a bit on the flighty side."

"Oh, er...she had to go to work. Left a few days ago and said she'd try to be back in the next two days. And Fionn's not my mate." Harry blushed and fidgeted slightly.

The Earth Demon's eyes snapped back to Harry, surprise showing clearly and then he shook his head. "I'm Herne if you've forgotten, Gideon is the Shadow Demon who won the cage match. I need to go and make sure he didn't take too much damage, but knowing you are currently Guideless and in the middle of a crowd who wont currently care who's blood gets spilled as long as they can see it happen... You're going to have to come with me. This is a very dangerous situation you've gotten yourself into young one, not just for yourself but for the Fae." Herne's voice was stern, and a touch disappointed as though Harry was a favorite nephew who had just managed to do something stupid.

Guiding them through the crowd with a hand on Harry's shoulder, and Fionn between them, Herne managed to get them past the cage and into a small room, a little bit behind and to the side of the cage. Once the door was closed behind them, silence fell so completely you wouldn't have known there was a crowd in the next room if you hadn't just come from there. Gideon turned towards them and quirked a brow at Herne.

"What's this then? Why... Well if it isn't the little one who tried to run me over a few weeks ago! And a mate already? Did you manage to lose your Guide in the crowd?"

"Why does everyone keep asking if Fionn is my mate? Doesn't anyone have same-gender friends in the Realm? Ash isn't here, she had to go to work and said she would try to get back in the next few days." Harry frowned and crossed his arms. Yeah, maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to follow Herne, especially somewhere he wasn't familiar with, and when Ash was out of touch. But he and Fionn were _fine_ , nothing had happened, and he was tired of being treated like a child. He felt like biting the next person to call him 'Young one' or 'little one'.

"Somehow I doubt your Guide told you it would be okay to visit a cage match without her, and while she was gone." Herne went and picked up a sponge and dunked it in a bowl of liquid before wringing it out and passing it over various cuts and burns on Gideon's upper body.

"It's the way you two stand and interact. Generally you don't get that kind of a closeness unless you're mated, going to mate, or sometimes it happens with twins." Gideon shrugged, and then hissed as the movement pulled at a particularly nasty-looking burn on his right shoulder.

"You two look pretty close to me, so does that mean _you're_ mated?" Harry was still a bit annoyed, but at least he was getting answers. Prior to his inheritance, he would get the lectures about what he'd done wrong, but none of his questions were answered. Even Ash would go off on tangents while answering things, and then she'd confuse or distract him enough that he'd forget the original question sometimes.

Gideon burst out laughing. "Airany and Fiane would have something to say about that. Not to mention the fact that Herne isn't interested in men. No, we're close because we've fought and trained together for well over five hundred years."

Herne snickered at the look on Harry's face when he heard 'five hundred years.' "Immortal, remember? Just because we look young, doesn't mean we _are_ young. Has your Guide explained about claiming studs yet? You'll need to know who not to try to chat up, plus the fact that neither you nor Fionn have them yourselves means you'll end up getting courted at some point." The teasing tone was back to Herne's voice, apparently he got over pique quickly.

Harry shook his head, he hadn't heard about claiming studs yet. But his attention was caught by Gideon as the Shadow Demon turned around and Harry could finally see just how much damage had been done during the match. Besides the burn on his shoulder, and a few claw marks on his back, there was a long gash along the outside edge of the top of his left wing. He had more cuts and bruises across his torso, and a burn on his right side just over his ribs. He hadn't looked like he'd gotten this badly hurt during the match, but everything had happened so fast...

"It's not normally this damaging, but that Storm Demon has a grudge against me. I'll be fine, just need a trip to the Healer's and time to heal up."

Harry just nodded, but Fionn tilted his head to the side and then looked up at Harry. He wiggled his fingers slightly and looked like he was asking Harry something wordlessly. Thinking back to the visit to Fred and George and the strange healing Fionn had done, Harry wondered if he was being asked permission to do it again.

"Whatever you want Fionn, it's fine. Remember, you don't have to ask permission for everything anymore." Harry said softly.

The Fae stared at him a moment longer, and then slowly pulled away from Harry's side. Moving carefully towards the Warriors with his eyes on the floor, he finally came to a stop before Gideon.

"Well hello there. Is there something you wanted to ask me?" Fionn didn't answer and Gideon looked puzzled then glanced towards Harry to find out what was going on. But before anyone could speak, Fionn had raised his right hand up to the burn on the Warrior's side, and it was glowing that faint golden color again. Seconds later the burn was gone, Fionn moved his hand to the gash in Gideon's wing and that too vanished. As he went to circle around to get the burn on Gideon's back, the shock seemed to finally wear off the Warriors.

Gideon moved and quickly grabbed Fionn's wrist, gently but strong enough to stop him from continuing. Fionn's eyes went wide, and then he dropped to the floor, trying to assume the kneeling posture Harry hadn't seen in almost a week. His head was bowed and his body was limp where it dangled from Gideon's grip. The Shadow Demon for his part, was shocked enough by the submissive posture he released Fionn's wrist and just stared a moment as the Fae curled into a ball at his feet.

"He was trying to help you! Why did you have to grab him like that? It took _weeks_ to get him to the point where he'd actually speak and not cringe the moment anyone looked at him." Harry's temper rose and he hurried forward, glaring at Gideon the whole time. When he touched Fionn's shoulder, the Fae flinched then allowed himself to be pulled to his feet and moved back across the room from Gideon and Herne. He trembled slightly as Harry pulled him close, trying to calm him down.

"I did not mean to frighten him, had I known he would react in such a fashion I never would have touched him. But that healing... it is a very rare talent, and you should not allow him to do it with virtual strangers. You have no idea what would happen if the wrong people were to find out he can heal with a touch. Being mated would be some protection, but even then there are those who would not hesitate to kidnap him and force him to use his gift as _they_ willed." Gideon's voice was low, as though he did not wish anyone outside those in the room to hear him, but Harry could also hear no false notes in it. He seemed to be telling the truth.

Harry just nodded silently, his eyes watching both Warriors warily. He'd wondered about the healing Fionn had done, Healer Tristan hadn't shown anything like it, but then Harry hadn't been wounded so he hadn't known for sure if it was normal or not.

"Claiming studs are visible proof that someone is mated." Herne spoke up, he hadn't moved during the healing or after, and it was clear he was trying to change the subject to bring the tension in the room back down to a bearable level. "Each mate has a stud that represents them embedded into the wing, or ear if the mate has no wings, of their mate or mates. Demons have square studs, with a stone in the colors of their wings and engraved with their initials. My Airany is a Water Demon, and this is her stud."

Slowly extending his right wing, he pointed to the square stud embedded an inch from the top of the wing, near the mid point. Beside the blue and white square stud, was a purple oval stud.

"The oval stud is Fiane's, she's a Fae and all Fae have oval studs. Incubi and Succubi have heart-shaped studs, Gargoyles are diamonds, and Djinn if one actually consents to mate with a Demon, are represented by teardrop-shaped studs. The studs for non-Demons are colored based on the color of their magic. For Fae, Incubi and Succubi, you can get an idea of their magic color from their hair and eye colors. They're embedded into the tops of the wings, or the ears, to make them easy to spot. If a given mateship has decided they do not wish to add any more to it, they can have a gold star embedded after the last mate stud. This is to let others know they are not interested and wish to be left alone. Any who do not have that stud are presumed to be open to being courted."

"You may have noticed your wings are extra-sensitive to some people and not others. This is one way to tell who might be compatible, both to your magic and your current mates if you have any." Gideon looked slightly uncomfortable, but Harry wasn't sure if it was because of the topic of conversation, or because he had only just stopped glaring at the Warrior.

"It's not full proof though, things are always changing. Someone who may not be compatible now, may go through a change in the future that makes them compatible. And the same goes for the opposite, unless they are already mated to you, or have bonded to you or one of your mates prior to being fully mated." Herne continued.

"I see. That's interesting, and thank you for explaining. But I think I need to get Fionn home now, I don't want him to regress any further than he's already done." Harry was once again holding Fionn against his side, running soothing fingers along the Fae's back. It was a good sign that Fionn hadn't tried to resume his position on the floor, but he wasn't as calm as he had been before the healing and Harry wanted to get him back to Ash's before anything else happened to undo all the progress that had been made.

"If you tell me where you're living, I'll take you. Gideon should go check in with the Healers, they'll wonder if he doesn't stop by and would have especially been curious if he didn't have anything beyond minor damage after a fight like that." Herne said lightly, trying to explain without actually saying it outright, that that had been the reason Gideon had stopped Fionn.

Harry looked at the Warriors a moment, but then shrugged. It wasn't like he would be able to easily find his way back himself, and it would be faster if someone who knew the area showed him the way. "Ash's house is 1619 Cirrus Court."

"Air district, not surprised. That isn't actually too far from here, it won't take long to get you two home. Come on, we can go out this door and avoid the crowds." Herne headed for the door in the back of the room, opposite the one they had used to get in there in the first place.


	11. The Shadow of the Realm

Harry and Fionn hadn't even been home for two minutes when Ash breezed past them, giggling quietly to herself. Placing a violin on the side-table and then dropping a miniature bridge carelessly on the chair beside it, she finally seemed to notice they were standing there.

"Hello! I need to go get cleaned up, and then drop that off. After I'm done, we can catch up on what you two have been doing. Back in a bit!" Ash bounced off down the hall, leaving Harry and Fionn blinking in her wake. 

They weren't sure what 'that' was, as her gesture was too vague, so it could have meant the violin, bridge, or both. Was she a secret musician? Ash didn't really strike Harry as the violin-playing type, but then again, he couldn't figure out how the bridge worked into the equation either. Picking up a book, Harry sat down on the sofa and Fionn quickly curled up next to him with his head in Harry's lap. Harry idly pet the Fae's hair while he read, ignoring the clingyness being displayed as he knew it was due to what had happened with Gideon. Ash hurried past them once again, now wearing a different set of clothes, and obviously fresh from a shower. She grabbed the violin, wrapped it in a large piece of black cloth, and was out the door again with only a quick wave over her shoulder to acknowledge them. Harry shook his head and laughed quietly, his new life was strange to say the least, but at least it was never boring with Ash around.

When Ash finally returned, Fionn was asleep and Harry had nearly finished the book he was reading. She flopped down on a chair across from them and beamed happily.

"So what have you two been up to while I was gone?"

"Not a whole lot, we went to the park a few times, and wandered around town, read and sat around the house. Nothing interesting really..." Harry wasn't about to tell her he'd seen a cage match, not after the way Herne and Gideon had behaved when they found out he had gone _without_ Ash. Three lectures in one day? No thank you!

"If I'm not totally off, your Healer's appointment is in two days, right? Or is it tomorrow?"

"No, it's in two days. I hope Healer Tristan has been able to figure out how to remove the brand and the binding on my Demon abilities..." Harry frowned slightly, then decided he wasn't going to think about that right now. There was nothing he could do about it after all, though that did remind him that he should stop by the Gringotts branch in the Realm and see if there was any word on what was happening with his accounts. It had only been three mortal days or so, but he could hope that he'd get answers about everything soon. Speaking of answers, his eyes fell on the miniature bridge again.

"Ash... why is there a miniature bridge on the chair? And what's up with the violin? I didn't know you played an instrument?"

Ash fidgeted a bit and chewed her lip, obviously trying to decide about telling him something. "I suppose since you're living with me for who knows how long, I'm going to have to explain sooner or later... but I'm going to have to get your Oath that you won't tell anyone else what I'm going to tell you." She looked as serious as she had before she left, when she told him to stay out of trouble. Harry was curious about what she could have to tell him that could be so important she had to ask him to take an Oath on it. But he trusted her, she had not lied to him once since he met her, and she had done her best to take care of both him and Fionn... Pulling out his wand, he sat up straighter.

"I, Harry James Potter do swear on my magic that I will not tell anyone what Ash is about to tell me without her permission. So mote it be." A bright flash of light appeared briefly from his wand, encompassing him before it vanished again. So used to Fionn being around, he had almost forgotten the Fae was sleeping in his lap until he spoke in a soft voice.

"I swear by Oona and Finvarra not to reveal what Ash is about to tell us without her permission." A soft golden light surrounded Fionn and then winked out again.

Ash nodded, still looking quite unlike her normal bubbly self. "I thank you for your Oaths, and assure you they were needed. If anyone were to find out what I do, it could mean my life. I doubt you will have heard of me yet Harry, since you haven't lived among us for very long. But I am known as the Shadow of the Realm."

Fionn sat up straight with a soft gasp, his golden eyes wide. " _You're_ the Shadow?"

Ash blushed faintly and inclined her head. "I am." Turning back to Harry she considered how to explain. "I am what you might say, one of the best and worst kept secrets in the Realm. Almost everyone has heard of me, but only a very few know who I am. Including the two of you, there are only four people who know my secret. One of them is Pepper."

"I don't understand. What do you mean, you're the Shadow of the Realm?"

"She's the best thief there is. No one's ever caught the Shadow, and she's never failed a job. Not that I've ever heard." Fionn answered Harry, his eyes never leaving Ash's face.

"So you stole a violin and a bridge for someone? But the bridge is still here, and how do you get jobs and paid, not to mention how do they get their stuff if no one knows you are the Shadow?" Harry was still a bit confused, and while he didn't agree with stealing, it wasn't really his place to lecture Ash about her life choices. Especially as she seemed to know exactly how dangerous her situation was.

Ash laughed and shrugged one shoulder. "Well... technically only the violin was requested. But it was too _easy._ I mean, anyone could have stolen that thing. I agreed because it's the Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius Violin, it was made by one of the Fae in 1727 and later stolen by a mortal. I don't steal indiscriminately, I only agree to jobs that either test my skills, or bring back something that was stolen from one of us in the first place. But a lot of copy-cats are out there, and some of _their_ jobs have been laid at my doorstep. Can't really disprove those without letting everyone know that I'm the Shadow. Hence needing your Oaths. As for how I get the jobs and how I get paid, Pepper and another friend have a... kind of a mail drop set up for me. If someone wants to hire me, they leave a message in the drop box, I pick it up and if it interests me and pays enough, I accept. I leave the item in the drop after they've left the money and no one finds out I'm the Shadow."

"That sounds risky for Pepper and the other person. What if someone goes after them? If they operate the drop, they'd have to know who you are." Harry frowned, he didn't think Ash would put her friends at risk, but it didn't sound safe for them at all either.

"It would be. But it's a magical drop box. Anything put into it gets transported to a drop box here in the house. So they can honestly say that they just rent out the space for the box. I have fail safes on the boxes, both here and in my friend's businesses. Nothing harmful or with any kind of tracker can enter the box."

"And the bridge?"

Ash squirmed a moment. "Well.... the violin was too easy as I said. I expected it to be worth my time, but the owner was an old lady who was dying in a hospital in New York. No alarm system, magical or otherwise. It was _boring!_ So I stopped by Russia on the way home and stole a bridge. It was _much_ more fun and difficult than the violin! And can you just imagine the looks on the mortals faces when they arrive and the bridge is gone?" She burst out laughing and bounced a little in her chair, green eyes dancing with mischief.

Harry could only shake his head, yeah, that sounded _exactly_ like the Ash he knew. She was the only person he could think of that would go from New York to Russia just to steal a bridge, and call it 'on the way home.' 

Sobering after a few moments, Ash leaned forwards in her chair. "I don't expect anything to happen, but if anything ever _does_ , and you haven't found a mate yet, go to Pepper. She'll know how to help me if I need it, and she can protect the two of you. She's actually quite high in the Succubus hierarchy, so no one will touch you if you have to go under her protection. But I've been doing this for hundreds of years, no one has caught me yet, so I doubt you'll have to worry."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius Violin is a real stolen artifact. It was stolen in 1995, from a sick woman in New York. Her family never told her as she died soon thereafter. It has never been found.
> 
> Also in that year, _three_ bridges were stolen in Russia. Also never found. It totally struck me as an Ash thing to steal because she was bored/frustrated. *snickers*
> 
> This fic is taking place in Harry's 6th year, so 1996, but I liked the idea of the violin and bridge being stolen so am using them anyway.
> 
> Oona and Finvarra are the Queen and King of the Fae, according to Irish Folklore. I have not yet decided if they will be in the fic as more than just a mention, but it fit to have Fionn swear by them.
> 
> Next chapter will be the Healer's visit, not sure what else if anything. If there is something _you_ would like to see happen, drop me a comment. I may use it if it fits in with my plans for the rest of the fic.


	12. Another Healer's Visit

Harry was woken early on the morning of his Healer's appointment by the feeling of being watched. He tried to ignore it as he was still sleepy and the bed was warm and cozy. But eventually he cracked open one eye and tried to figure out if Ash was about to play a trick on him. She had been having _way_ too much fun with the products she had purchased from Fred and George's shop. Luckily for him, she was just as likely to prank unsuspecting strangers as she was to do so to Harry himself. 

Not seeing Ash anywhere in his line of sight, he finally sighed and sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes free of sleep as he did so. When he opened them again and looked around, he was surprised to see Fionn sitting at the foot of the bed with a pad of notebook paper and a pencil. The Fae dropped his eyes and fiddled with the pencil for a moment nervously before smiling shyly at Harry.

"Good morning. I didn't mean to wake you..."

"It's okay, I would have had to get up soon anyway. And better you waking me than Ash!" He laughed and then covered a yawn with one hand. 

"What are you up to this morning?"

Fionn glanced back down at the notepad, and then slowly reached out and tore the top sheet off of it. He looked at it for a moment longer before holding it out to Harry. "It's not very good, but I don't have anything else to give right now..."

"You don't have to give me anything Fionn, we've been over this. You are not a slave anymore, I freed you and you can be your own person again." Harry looked down at the paper in his hands, and then he blinked and looked again. It was _quite_ good. Maybe better if it wasn't on lined notebook paper, but he could easily tell that at some point in the past the Fae had been an artist of some kind. The sketch was of Harry, wind blowing through his hair and wings half-spread with a smile on his face as he looked at something off in the distance.

"I know, but I wanted to give you something... do you like it?" Fionn still looked nervous, the pencil rolling between his fingers.

"This is really good, were you training to be an artist?"

The Fae shook his head, glancing down at his lap shyly. "No, not exactly. I was apprenticed to a tattooist and only had another year left before I could start my own shop. Making your own designs is part of the job so I had to learn to draw."

"Is that something you would like to try to get back into?"

"I...don't know. Maybe?"

"Are you two up yet? We need to hurry if you want breakfast before your Healer's visit Harry!" Ash bounced into the room and stood halfway between the door and the bed, totally oblivious to what she had just interrupted.

"I know, and if you'll get out, I can get dressed." Harry rolled his eyes fondly at her. She was annoyingly cheerful, and sometimes exasperating, but he found that the longer he was around her, the more she was growing on him.

~****~

They were shown into what looked like the same room they had entered the last time, and Harry once again took up his position on the edge of the exam table. Ash had of course stolen the chair, but at least this time Fionn wasn't kneeling at Harry's feet. The Fae had leaned against the wall near Ash, though he watched Harry from under his fall of hair. It wasn't long before Healer Tristan hurried into the room, he smiled at the three of them and then approached Harry.

"Well, I'm afraid I have both good news and bad news in regards to the brand and the binding on your magic. Which would you like to hear first?"

"Uh, the bad news I guess..." Harry's stomach twisted itself up as he worried that the bad news was that the Healers couldn't remove the binding.

"Well, the bad news is in two parts... The first part is that from what we have been able to decipher from the brand and the magic surrounding it, it would appear that not only is there a binding on your Demon abilities, there seems to be a kind of...well, there's a soul component as well. We're not sure if it is meant to switch your soul with another's, or if it has some other purpose. There's a Djinn we can consult, but only with your permission. He's one of the oldest Djinn in this area of the Realm and knows a lot of soul magics."

Harry just nodded, shocked speechless for a moment. As if his life hadn't been complicated _enough_ already, now his soul was potentially in danger as well? "And the second part?"

"Well, in order to remove the brand and the binding, we need to have access to the Wizard or Witch who cast them. They need to be physically in the room while we remove the magics so we can monitor both that person as well as you and be sure nothing is left of them on you. But since we don't know who did this, we'll need to send out trackers to find them. Do we have your permission to do that? The Warriors who go will have to be told why they're seeking, so they have some idea of the possible danger they'll be facing."

Harry closed his eyes for a moment and then nodded at Healer Tristan. "How will the Warriors be chosen? And how many will have to know?"

"That depends. We'll need at least one Shadow Demon as they're the best trackers. And depending on which one agrees, that will decide how many others know. Shadow Demon Warriors tend to have a group of two or more that they prefer working with, and we won't know how big that group is until we find one who will agree." Healer Tristan looked apologetic and spread his hands to show there really wasn't any better answer he could give them right now.

"Harry, Gideon?" Fionn spoke softly from his place near Ash.

Harry considered for only a moment and then nodded. "Can I request a particular Shadow Warrior? I actually know one already, though I only know his first name and the first name of one of his friends..."

"If we can figure out which Warrior he is from your description, I can send for him and ask." Tristan pulled out a small notebook and pen from his pocket, flipping it open to a blank page. "You said the Shadow Demon was named Gideon?"

"Yes. He has purple hair and grey eyes. He's always been in the company of an Earth Demon named Herne. Herne has brown hair and hazel eyes. And when I first met them, there was a third... I can't remember his name, but I think he was a Storm Demon and had black hair and light blue eyes...?" Harry frowned to himself, trying to remember the last Demon's name.

"You know Gideon Reed?" Tristan looked surprised, then quickly made a few more notes. "Which would make the Herne you spoke of Herne de Rossi, and their third is Laric Winters. Gideon and Herne are quite high in the ranks of Shadow and Earth Demons. If they agree, you won't have to worry about them finding your Wizard or Witch. They have a lot of experience in tracking down dark mages."

"Reed and de Rossi? No wonder they looked familiar, I'd never actually met them before Harry tried to run them down..." Ash laughed. "You never seem to do things by half, do you Harry?"

"Yeah, yeah. Story of my life." Harry made a face at Ash before turning back to Tristan. "If they're of such high rank that you knew them just by description, do you think they'll agree? I mean, would it be rude to ask in the first place?"

"It was the purple hair, as well as the names and Demon types that made identifying them easy. And it would not be at all rude Harry. They're Warriors for a reason, if hunting down people and bringing them back to face trial, or whatever else, wasn't something they wished to do, they wouldn't have become Warriors in the first place. And I won't know if they agree until I ask. If they don't agree, I'll send you a message and you can either pick another group if you know of one, or I can introduce you to a few and we can go from there." Tristan closed his notebook and smiled reassuringly at Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I've had a few questions on this, yes, Harry will be getting a Warrior mate. *grins* I had one in particular in mind, but the way my muse is running, I could be convinced to add in a 2nd one as well. Which would make 6 mates instead of 5 for Harry.


	13. A Courtship Begun

They were once again in Ash's living room She had dragged them there after the Healer's appointment, saying that Harry needed to relax for a bit before doing anything else. Since arguing with Ash never worked, Harry didn't bother, he just did as he was told for the moment. Fionn was curled up against Harry's side on the couch, and was fiddling with one of the buttons on the cuff of his white silk shirt. He looked like he was in deep thought about something, so Harry chose not to bother him. The Fae would tell him what was on his mind at some point if it was important.

Ash herself was out picking up something for them to eat, Harry had no idea what she would bring back. Sometimes it was foods he was familiar with from the muggle or Wizarding worlds, and sometimes it was strange-looking dishes with stranger smells and spices that were unique to the Realm. So far, none of it had made him sick, but there were a few things he was never trying again. He dragged his thoughts back to the present when he felt Fionn sit up and turn towards him, though the Fae kept his eyes on his hands for another moment before he actually spoke.

"I--" He stopped and shook his head, frowned slightly and then looked up at Harry briefly before dropping his eyes again. "What do you think of me?"

Harry for his part, blinked and looked a little confused. He was beginning to think that he was living in a constant state of confusion, at least once a day if not more, something happened that he wasn't expecting and didn't know how to handle.

"What?"

"I mean...do you think of me as a pet? A friend? Something else, or nothing at all?" Fionn's voice was soft, but he actually managed to meet Harry's eyes by the last few words.

"You aren't a pet!" Harry reached out and put a hand over Fionn's to stop the Fae from twisting the button right off his sleeve. "You aren't a pet Fionn. And it's hard not to think of you when you're constantly with me. I'd like to think we were friends, even though we have only known each other less than a month. Why are you asking me this?" Harry couldn't read the emotion he saw in Fionn's eyes, it wasn't like anything he was used to having directed at himself, and wasn't any of the usual things he had seen so far out of the Fae. They were both so focused on the other, neither noticed Ash return, though for once she stood in the doorway watching in silence.

"I--" Fionn licked his lips nervously, but didn't drop his eyes from Harry's. "I want to Court you. You accepted my drawing this morning, will you allow me to Court you?"

Harry gaped in silence a moment, he had not expected anything like _this_ from Fionn. He wasn't even sure if he liked guys! "You want to _what?!_ You can't be serious! I mean, you're still getting over how that Djinn treated you, you can't possibly be ready or wanting anything like this!"

"I know what I want. I'm not the way I was, not yet, maybe never will be. But I know what I want." The Fae's voice was firm and a touch stubborn. He dropped his eyes and pulled his hand out from under Harry's, as though expecting to be rejected and kicked out of the house on the spot, but he didn't retract his statement.

As Harry opened his mouth to speak again, Ash finally spoke, her voice carrying and overriding his own. "Don't reject his Courtship unless you are _really_ sure you do not want him Harry. Once rejected, he must wait a minimum of three years before asking again. And that will be the final time he may ask. The Law was put into place to keep people from stalking others and making a nuisance of themselves."

"But I... but he... Ash! How can I accept?" Harry raked a hand through his hair, he didn't know _what_ he thought of the Fae. If he was honest with himself, he found Fionn attractive, how could he not? But a Courtship? He was only sixteen! The only experiences he had with dating were disasters, and there was so much he had to deal with right now between the lock on his Demonic abilities, his Gringotts vaults, and learning how to defeat Voldemort. Could he really add a Courtship into the mix?

"If he is whole enough to ask, and to _tell you_ that he knows he wants it, then he is whole enough to Court. The only thing you have to decide is if you are willing to allow it, and willing to see the Courtship through. You don't have to Accept him at the end, you may both find that you aren't suited after all. That's part of what the Courtship is about, getting to know each other. Plus, it lasts anywhere from three months to a year and a day. It will only end when both parties decide it does, or after a year and a day have passed since Courtship was accepted."

Harry glanced from Ash to Fionn, trying to understand why the Fae would have asked this of him in the first place. He couldn't think of any good reasons really, but every moment he hesitated on an answer, Fionn looked sadder. The Fae was picking at a stray thread in the knee of his jeans now, shoulders drooped and hair falling forward to obscure both eyes. He looked like a kicked puppy, and something inside of Harry twisted like it had done that first day he laid eyes on Fionn. He couldn't have left the Fae to his fate then, no more could he reject him now that he had had a little time to think about it. After all, as Ash said, they might not suit at all and he could always say no later...

He sighed softly. "All right. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to Accept and see where it goes..."

Fionn jerked his head up and stared at Harry a moment like he couldn't actually believe his ears, and then a smile spread across his face. It was the happiest Harry had ever seen the Fae, he literally looked as though he might be glowing from within.

"Requested and Accepted, your Courtship has begun." Ash spoke formally, as though she was reciting something sacred or from years past. As the last word left her lips, a glowing red ball of light shot past her and straight towards Harry where it hovered in the air about a foot from him.

"You have a message Harry. I wonder who it's from? Hold out your hand, palm up and cupped to receive the message. Once it touches you, you'll be able to hear it, but we won't unless it's a general message for everyone. The color of the light tells you who the message is for, mine was blue if you recall, since I'm Air, and yours is red for Fire."

Harry did as instructed, and slowly held out his right arm, palm up. The light shot towards him and touched down into his waiting hand, he couldn't feel anything more than a slight tickling sensation, and then the message began to play. It was like a muggle recording device he thought absently, it sounded exactly like Tristan, but there was no picture or anything else. Once it was done, the light winked out as though it was never there.

"Tristan wants to know if Gideon and his two friends can stop by, it seems they're having trouble picking out the magical signature from the casting he did before. Too many others have touched it trying to figure out how it works, and Gideon needs a clean trace to track."

"Ah of course. I had wondered how they were going to track down the person who did it. A moment..." Ash held out her right hand and snapped her fingers as she called up a whisper of wind, a few moments later a glowing white ball of light appeared hovering above her fingertips. "Message for Healer Tristan Hawthorne. You may send Gideon and his team to 1619 Cirrus Court. We will be waiting for their arrival." Flicking her fingers, she sent the message light on its way and started passing out the food she had brought back.

"Message lights aren't hard to create, but will most likely need to have your Fire abilities unlocked in order to manage them. All messages start out white, and then change after they are recorded and sent to their destination."

Harry just nodded, if it was something he couldn't use yet, he wasn't sure if he really wanted to know all that much about it. There was too much useless information in his head as it was. He took a bite of the sweet and sour chicken and hummed softly in appreciation. He had never gotten to try much Chinese food before.

Just as they finished the last bites of food, a faint knock was heard from the front of the house. "You two stay put, I'll show the Warriors in. Though you might as well remove your shirt Harry since they'll need unobstructed access to that brand on your back." Ash bounced up and hurried off out the door as Harry stood up and stripped his shirt off. He was trying to ignore the way Fionn was watching him, as though now that he had the permission of Courting, he was less shy about studying Harry.

Ash was soon back with the three Warriors, the room felt much smaller now that they were there. Not only because they were tall, but their very presence was imposing.

"Thank you for allowing us into your home, we hopefully won't take up too much of your time." Gideon inclined his head to Ash and turned towards Harry, Herne and Laric flanking him. "May we please see the brand?"

Harry turned his back to the Warriors and spread his wings to get them out of the way as well. He was now facing Fionn fully, and watched the Fae's face curiously as Fionn in turn watched the Warriors' every movement. A moment later he felt calloused fingertips lightly tracing the brand, and a slight tingle of magic. Then the fingers and presence were gone from behind him, but before he could do more than think about turning, another set of calloused fingertips were touching it. Followed by a third. The third set lingered a moment longer than the first two had, and Harry saw Fionn's eyes narrow and his chin come up slightly before the fingers withdrew.

"My apologies, I meant no intrusion on your mateship." Harry turned to see Laric speaking, but he was speaking directly to Fionn. Giving a formal bow, with one hand over his heart, he continued speaking. "The magics used are strange, but they also remind me of something from long ago. I was merely trying to remember, but it is still escaping me. Please forgive me, I meant no harm to you or him."

Gideon and Herne were watching the exchange, Herne looked more curious than anything, but Gideon looked as though he was hoping he didn't have to step into the middle of a fight.

Fionn tilted his head a little and his hair fell to obscure his right eye as usual, but he finally gave a slightly stiff nod of his head. "Apology accepted. No harm was done, no harm was intended. The Courtship has barely begun." His voice too had a formal note, as though they were speaking phrases learned long ago as children by rote. Harry began to worry a little, was there something he was supposed to say? How was he going to learn this? And did he _need_ to learn this?

Gideon reached out and touched Laric on the shoulder before jerking his head towards the door. The Storm Demon turned and left with Herne following him. "Thank you for allowing us to get a better reading on the trace, the sooner we get started on the tracking, the sooner we can capture the one who did this and get it all removed. I promise we will find him or her, and bring them back little one." The Shadow Demon bowed his head to each of them and then strode off after his companions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my muse was over-active, and you get a new chapter after only a day. Aren't you all lucky? *laughs* This should help answer the "what about Fionn" question I've been getting....
> 
> Next chapter will feature Gringotts and what has been going on with Harry's accounts. Possibly more Fred and George as well, depending on how the chapter goes.
> 
> Also! I have made a forum for questions and chatter about the story, as well as review responses from FF.net though I will continue to respond to reviews here on this site. It can be found at: 
> 
> http://www.fanfiction.net/forum/Shadows-and-Light/138524/


	14. Lies Revealed

When Harry entered Ragnok's office this time, he saw a backless, long leather bench in front of the desk instead of chairs. He appreciated the goblin's thoughtfulness, and then wondered if that meant that he would be here for a long time... He took a seat on the bench and Fionn sat beside him with Ash looking at the books and nicknacks in the room. He also noticed the scorch marks had been removed from the walls, and that the torches were missing from their brackets. The upper portion of the walls, and the ceiling itself seemed to be giving off a soft glow. He supposed that was a good idea, not having any fire in the room so he couldn't actually burn anything down if he lost his temper again. Though it did beg the question of why the goblins didn't use this as a lighting source more often instead of torches.

"Hello again Mr. Potter. I am not quite done with my investigation, but have managed to uncover enough to get us started. It seems the reason you have not been getting your statements was because they were re-routed to Albus Dumbledore. He claimed to be in loco parentis, because your muggle guardians could not possibly be expected to have enough understanding of the Wizarding world." Ragnok paused a moment and looked up from the report on his desk. 

Harry remained silent and waited to see if there was more, so far it didn't seem all that bad. He'd rather the Dursley's not know that he had any money, they'd likely try to take it from him. But he didn't understand why Dumbledore hadn't told him anything about his other accounts, or even let him see the statements so he'd have some idea of what was happening.

"There have also been withdrawals into three separate accounts from your parent's main vault, starting from your eleventh birthday. The lists I have here claim that they were for clothing, vacations, a Quidditch match, extra tutoring..." Ragnok trailed off, interrupted by what could only be called a growl from Harry.

Harry clenched his hands into fists and closed his eyes, breathing deeply to try to contain his temper. Just because there was no fire in the room, and the fact he couldn't do much with Fire, didn't mean he could afford to lose his temper. There were still enough things in this room that could be burned to cinders after all. Fionn slid an arm around Harry's waist and leaned into his side, while Ash came up from behind him and gripped his shoulders, trying to help ground him. Finally after a long moment, Harry was able to speak, though he kept his eyes closed.

"I have _never_ gone on a vacation. Never gotten anything besides my cousin's cast-off clothing. Never had tutoring besides what my friend Hermione -a fellow _student_ \- gave me. And the only Quidditch match I have ever seen outside of the Hogwarts teams, was at the World Cup. Which was via an extra ticket Ron's dad had." His eyes finally opened, he would have been worried if he could have seen the flames dancing in his eyes, a sign of just how close he was to losing control over his Fire. "Where have those payments gone, and can they be reversed? I never got any of that stuff, so this person or people shouldn't get paid for it."

"I can reverse the charges, but not all of the money is still in their accounts. There is a law in place regarding fraud, with your permission I can have their assets seized up to 30% past the amount stolen. The goblin who was in charge of your accounts and allowed this to happen has already been dealt with. I have taken temporary control, but you are welcome to choose a new account manager at any time."

"Who received the payments Ragnok?"

The goblin carefully met Harry's eyes. "Albus Dumbledore. Molly Weasley, and Ron Weasley. They have been getting payments every year since you were eleven, Albus and Molly receiving the most. We froze your accounts in time to avoid the payment for this year, but are expecting to hear from Albus Dumbledore anytime now to find out why the money hasn't been transferred."

Harry's claws were biting into the flesh of his palms now, but he barely felt the pain. His _best friend_ had been taking money from him for _years!_ He couldn't understand it. Ron had always been jealous of his fame, and money, but he had truly thought that they were friends. After everything they had been through together, he couldn't believe Ron would have done this to him. And Molly had always treated him as one of her own! He'd finally thought he knew what having a mother was like when he stayed with them at the end of every summer. But... if he could have been so wrong about them, what about the other Weasley's? Hermione? Did he have _any_ real friends? He shook his head, he couldn't deal with that right now. Now, he had to concentrate on his accounts, he could deal with finding out who was really his friend later.

"Can you put Dumbledore off for a bit? Long enough for me to look into a few things?"

The goblin smiled, it was filled with entirely too many teeth. "I can tell him there was an accident with your account manager, and that we are doing a small audit of the last few months while a new manager is appointed. It will even be mostly true."

"Please do so. I'll get back to you as soon as I can about what I want done about the thefts." Harry stood, he didn't want to deal with anymore of this right now. He knew he would _have_ to deal with it of course, but he was too upset to think as clearly as he would like. So it would be better to come back another day. As they moved towards the door, a goblin came in and quickly bowed to Ragnok. 

"Excuse me for the intrusion sir. But there are two people waiting to talk to Mr. Potter. They say he told them to come to us if they needed him."

"Did they give you their names?" Ragnok asked the other goblin.

"They said they were Fred and George Weasley, sir."

Ragnok looked to Harry. "Do you wish to see them Mr. Potter? I can have them shown here if you wish."

Harry paused. Up until today, he would have said he trusted the twins with his life. But, he would have said that about Ron before today as well. Were the twins in on it? Did they know Molly and Ron were stealing from him? He went to rake a hand through his hair, but Fionn suddenly grabbed it and turned his hand palm up. He only had a moment to see the blood dripping from his palm before the Fae had put his own hand over it and healed it. Then he took Harry's other hand and did the same for it. Fionn lightly touched Harry's cheek with the fingertips of one hand, the other hand still holding Harry's own. The Fae was the only one Harry had ever met who could say so much without words, and it constantly amazed him how he could understand the words not said. At least most of the time. Finally looking away from that golden gaze, he turned back towards Ragnok.

"I.. Yes. If you wouldn't mind?"

The other goblin left, but Harry didn't go back to the bench. He stood silently with Fionn as Ash came up behind him again. Finally Fred and George were shown into the room, they looked worried, but the relief that came to their eyes when they saw Harry and the others was hard to miss.

"Harry! Thank Merlin! I know you said you'd be quick, but we didn't expect you _this_ fast!" Fred laughed, though it sounded a little strained.

"I was already here, talking to Ragnok. He's my account manager. Ragnok, this is Fred and George Weasley." Harry was trying to act mostly natural, but he kept a close eye on Fred and George when he said 'account manager' to see if they showed any signs of worry. 

Ragnok for his part looked slightly surprised and then pleased to be told he was keeping control of Harry's accounts. "Messrs Weasley."

Fred and George quickly bowed their heads to Ragnok. "A pleasure to meet you." Neither one so much as blinked at the introduction.

"Harry, Dumbledore came by the shop a bit ago."

"He said he was looking for you, that he knew you weren't at the Dursley's and had been to see us." George added.

"Yeah, he seemed really mad about something, and didn't believe us when we told him we had no idea where you were."

"Even though it's technically true. Never having been to the Realm and all."

"We don't know what's going on, but Lee is watching over the store for us. We think it might be a good idea to lay low for a while." Fred looked at Harry. "So we wanted to let you know we weren't going to be at the shop or the Burrow, in case you decided to drop by again."

Harry looked between the two, they weren't acting guilty, and if he had been right all along and they really _were_ his friends and knew nothing about the thefts, he didn't want to leave them here where Dumbledore could get to them.

"Did you know Molly, Ron and Dumbledore were stealing from me?" He spoke in a rush, before he could lose his nerve.

Fred and George stared at him in shock a moment and then nearly tripped over their own words before speaking in tandem.

"What?!"

"No!"

"Why would.."

"We had no idea Harry. None at all." They met his eyes and he could see no hint of dishonesty there, just shock and a little bit of anger. 

"If we had known we would have told you about it ourselves. I can't believe they'd do that to you, after everything you've done for our family!" Fred approached and grabbed Harry's free hand, Fionn was still holding the other and didn't look like he was going to release it anytime soon.

"I swear on my magic Harry, I had no idea they were doing that." A brief flash surrounded Fred and then was gone.

George followed his brother and touched Harry on the shoulder. "I swear on my magic that I had no idea they were doing that." A brief flash surrounded him as well and then was gone.

And with it went Harry's worry about them being in on it. His shoulders sagged slightly and he looked up at them with relief in his eyes. "You have _no_ idea how glad I am to hear that. Do you think your Dad or the rest of the family knew?"

Fred and George looked at each other a moment and then shook their heads. "No idea. We can't imagine Dad, Bill or Charlie being in on it, but the only way to know for sure is to ask them."

"All right. We won't worry about that right now then." He turned towards Ash. "Mind another two roommates for a while?"

Ash rolled her eyes and pretended to pout. "What is this? A boarding house?" She gave a theatrical sigh. "I suppose I could live with them for a while...but you know they can't live in the Realm forever. It does strange things to mortals, it's not really safe for more than a few weeks." Her green eyes were serious as she said the last.

"Then we'll have to figure out a way to make it safe for them to return quickly, won't we?" Harry looked back to Fred and George. "Want to take a vacation to the Realm?"

"Really? Wicked!" They said as one, both looking excited and ready to wreck mischief on an unsuspecting realm.


	15. Confessions

They'd arrived back in the Realm just after dark, Fred and George had been a little disappointed that they couldn't see much, but Harry thought it was just as well. He'd much rather go home and try to get his mind around all the things he'd learned today, instead of haring off after the twins as they rampaged their way through the Realm. Though, that could be fun later, just not right now.

Ash gave Fred and George the room beside Harry's, the one that was supposed to be for Fionn, but the Fae had never used it. Harry supposed that since Fionn was Courting him now, he _should_ be using it. But after this long of sleeping in the same bed, and always just being there, it would feel too weird _not_ to have the Fae around. Not to mention that would mean Fionn would have to bunk with the twins as Ash only had those two extra rooms. And he wasn't sure the Fae would forgive him for that.

As he crawled into his bed, he was a little surprised that the twins hadn't said anything about Fionn sharing his room, but it was just barely possible they hadn't noticed. Or perhaps they were taking pity on him, and all the teasing would begin in the morning. He wasn't going to think about it right now. He knew he was doing that a lot -not thinking-, but so much had been happening it was overwhelming. Hermione wouldn't let him get away with it, but so far none of the others had called him out on it... He fell asleep with Fionn curled up by his side, mentally reminding himself to get in touch with Hermione. He needed to know who's side she was on.

He woke early the next morning to twin shouts in his ears and the covers being yanked off as the bed bounced wildly. Jerking upright, his wings snapped out and he called Fire to dance along the fingertips of one hand as he made sure Fionn was close enough to protect with the other. He heard a startled _eep!_ , and his sleep-hazed mind tried to wake up more fully and catch up to what was going on. He was in the Realm, at Ash's house, and Fred and George had come back with them last night...which meant he most likely wasn't actually under attack. Or at least, not the kind where he needed to have called Fire...

"Remind me not to sneak up on Harry again Gred."

"Yeah, that was a bit on the scary side Forge...but can you see our sales if we could make a candy that let you have flames coming out of your fingers?"

"Oh _yeah..._ We'd have to figure out how to get the flames to not burn anything, but I think we could manage that if we use--"

"Was there a _reason_ you woke me up guys, or did you just get that bored?" Harry sighed and closed his hand, the flames winking out as though they had never been. Fionn grumbled under his breath and rubbed his eyes, leaning against Harry's side, the Fae's hair rumpled both from sleep and the wake-up call they had just gotten.

"We were _bored_ , and want to go see the Realm! You promised to show us around today, remember?" Fred whined, peering out from behind the desk where he and George had scrambled to take cover.

"Yeah and... Hey, why is Fionn in your bed? Did we interrupt more than just _sleep?_ " George snickered.

"Why don't _we_ get to sleep in your bed if he does? I claim tonight!" 

Harry covered his eyes with a hand and took a deep breath, but before he had actually figured out what he was going to say, he felt Fionn sit up. The Fae was no longer leaning on him, but was still close enough their arms brushed lightly. 

"Courtship has special privileges. You will have to wait your turn." Fionn spoke softly still, but his tone was firm. And then he went still and dropped his head slightly, looking up at Harry from under his lashes as though he wasn't sure he was allowed to have spoken.

Harry patted Fionn's hand and turned back to the twins. "Uh, well. Ash only has two guestrooms, she gave me this one when we got here and I wasn't about to put Fionn in with you. And... yeah... Fionn is Courting me..." He trailed off, not exactly sure how to explain Courtship. It was also a little uncomfortable to be getting into all this while sitting in his bed wearing nothing but his boxers.

"Wait, you're Courting? Like the whole engaged-to-be-married kind of Courting?" Fred's eyes were wide as he looked between Fionn and Harry.

"Kind of?" Harry ran a hand through his hair and tugged it a bit.

"Courtship in the Realm starts with an acceptance of a gift. And then formal acceptance of the Courtship. After which the couple or current mateship get to know the potential mate. When the Courtship ends, if the potential mate is accepted, we exchange claiming studs. Which is sort of like marriage and wedding rings in your realm." Fionn looked at his hands while explaining, voice still that soft careful tone. 

Harry wondered if he would ever be whole enough to act and speak the way he did before he was indentured. Or if this _was_ the way he had been before? Sometimes Harry saw glimpses that made him sure the Fae wasn't always like this, but he didn't know if Fionn would be able to get past what had been done completely.

One of the twins whistled, Harry hadn't been paying attention to them, so missed just which one had done it.

"Didn't know you were into blokes Harry."

"Yeah. Doesn't bother us any of course, but m-" George stopped suddenly and blushed faintly. "I mean, Gin will be disappointed. She always thought you two were going to marry someday. Had your wedding planned out since she was seven."

Harry was sure George had been about to say "mum", and then remembered what they'd learned yesterday. He was grateful the twin had remembered and changed his sentence, but it still hurt thinking about Molly.

"I doubt she'll be all that upset. She's been dating Seamus for a while now. Or hadn't you noticed? But as much as this has been fun, I'd kind of like to get a shower and dressed soon. _Without_ you two in here. Meet you in the sitting room later and we can go for breakfast and then a tour? Ash doesn't cook, so most of our meals are had while we're out."

Fred and George hurried out telling Harry to hurry up already then, leaving Harry and Fionn alone. Harry's wings were twitching a bit in agitation from his thoughts as he sat on the bed another moment. Fionn watched him silently, and then reached out and lightly ran a hand down the closest wing soothingly.

"Shower and dress. Think later, when you can _do_ something about it."

The touch was a surprise, it sent tingles down his spine and made him feel warm all over. It wasn't as strong a reaction as when Fred and George had been touching him that day, but it was stronger than it had ever been with Fionn before. And it could easily be less because of being only one person and one hand, instead of two people and three hands. Could this really work? He'd been thinking mostly to just humor Fionn, he hadn't really thought anything would come of the Courtship. The Fae was too broken in Harry's mind after all. But if he was compatible... Harry vaguely remembered what Herne had said about magic and compatibility in regards to his wings being sensitive to touch.

So lost in thought was Harry, that he hadn't noticed Fionn leave the bed or get dressed. When the Fae approached him and laid a hand on his shoulder however, his attention snapped back to the present.

"Shower and dress. Your friends won't be patient long."

"Yeah. Okay, I'm going. Sorry, too much to think about today." Harry shrugged and then gathered his clothes and took the bundle into the bathroom with him.

Fionn headed for the sitting room, he could hear one of the twins talking to Ash in a loud, excited voice. But he didn't bother to listen, he just headed for the couch and sat down at one end. Shortly after he was settled, one of the twins came into the room alone.

"I'm George if you're wondering." George grinned slightly and flopped down in a chair a few feet from Fionn. "So... Courting huh? We never expected Harry to think about that kind of stuff until after the War. I mean, he dated, but always said they were disasters."

Fionn studied George in silence a moment, before finally speaking. "I asked, he Accepted."

"But isn't he a little young? I mean, no offense to you or anything. If Harry accepted then he must have good reason, see something in you and all. But... Ash said you guys are immortal? And Harry's only sixteen. Why ask him now?"

Fionn dropped his eyes to a spot on the floor, one hand lightly traced designs on the armrest of the couch. When he finally spoke, his voice was a bit softer than usual, and he never looked up at George. "I'm twenty-five, not that much older in immortal terms. And..." He paused a moment before taking a breath. "You've seen him. How everyone seems to gather around and follow him. Everyone likes him, he's powerful as a Wizard, when his blocks are gone, he'll be a powerful Demon too. All mates in a mateship have to approve new potentials, or they don't get accepted after Courtship." 

He finally looked up at George. "Can you see anyone accepting me if I was not the first in his mateship? I know..." He looked away again. "I know I'm broken, and that he deserves better. But I love him, I had to try while I had a chance. Any chance at all." A single tear rolled down Fionn's cheek.

"Bloody hell! Don't cry! Harry'll tear me a new one if he thinks I made you cry! You can't be that broken or Harry never would have accepted the Courtship. He's like that, won't take advantage of anybody. We saw how he always knew where you were, kept an eye on you during his visit and yesterday too." George looked quickly towards the archways that led off into the rest of the house, no one was coming yet, so he had time before he ended up dead.

Fionn chocked a small laugh. "He won't kill you. If you were one of us, he'd probably accept you and your twin into his mateship before he accepted me. The only thing stopping him is your mortality, and his obliviousness."

George blushed a bit. "Uh, I don't know what you're talking about. Harry isn't interested in me or Fred. Besides, what does our being mortal have to do with anything? I mean, yeah, we'll die and you lot won't, but..?"

"Humans can't live here. I don't know why exactly, but something in the magics that made the Realm... _twist_ them. If they stay more than a few weeks, sometimes less, they fade. If they don't leave at the first signs of fading, they're just...gone. Nothing left."

"Then we'll have to be sure to keep a close eye on Fred and George, to make sure that doesn't happen." Harry walked into the room in time to hear the last thing Fionn said. "So, ready to see the Realm in daylight?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags are still correct, the Twins _will_ end up in Harry's mateship. You'll just have to wait to find out how... *snickers*


	16. Am I?

It was still early in the afternoon. They had spent the morning showing Fred and George around the park, and then as they were leaving there and on their way to introduce them to Pepper... It happened. Fred and George were talking with Ash, with Harry and Fionn a little ways behind them. A Succubus with electric green hair passed them, and then suddenly stopped and turned back. She headed straight for Fred and George.

"Ohhh... a matched set!" She circled them, one hand reaching out to brush down Fred's arm as she licked her lips. "Do tell me that you aren't Courting anyone." Her voice was practically purring the words, and even from a few feet away, Harry could feel the seduction pouring off her. Fred and George's eyes looked a little glazed, but Ash just looked bored and a touch annoyed as she looked at the Succubus.

"They're mortals."

"Oh pooh! No fun then." The Succubus wrinkled her nose like the twins had suddenly turned into something disgusting right before her eyes. But then she turned her attention towards Harry. "What about--"

Fionn's eyes narrowed and he touched Harry's arm. "Courting."

The Succubus gave a sniff and flounced off without another word. The glazed look was slowly leaving Fred and George's eyes, and they blinked rapidly a moment. "What just happened?" Fred looked around a little dazedly still and George just nodded.

"That was a Succubus. They use touch and their voice to ensnare others..." Ash's voice got fainter as she pulled the twins after her, heading down the street again.

Harry blinked a little and shook his head before focusing back on Fionn. "Are _all_ Succubi and Incubi like that?"

The Fae was still close to him, but now a bit more in front than beside Harry. "Mostly. The older ones are a bit more subtle." He reached out and smoothed Harry's shirt collar, and then glanced back at Harry. 

For his part, Harry just smiled slightly. He was getting ready to say they should hurry and catch up to Ash before they got left behind, when Fionn leaned forward and gently kissed him. Harry froze. The kiss was soft and gentle, nothing like the few kisses he had received in the past. It was actually kind of...nice. But... he was also being kissed by another _male._ His brain freaked out a bit, he still didn't know if he even _liked_ guys that way! Before he'd met Fionn, he'd never even given the matter any thought. But now he was being Courted, and _kissed_ by a guy. He didn't know what to do, or think, and when his brain finally caught up and told him he should be doing _something_ besides just standing there, Fionn had already pulled back. 

The Fae looked a little sad, but quickly dropped his eyes. "We should hurry before Ash forgets us." Was all he said, and then he was turning and hurrying off after the others. As he reached them, George glanced over and threw an arm around Fionn's shoulders, and then they all turned a corner and were lost to sight. Harry reached up and touched his lips, then shook his head and hurried after them. He couldn't fix anything right now, and didn't even know if he should.

They spent the rest of the day showing Fred and George the sights, and by the time they got home, everyone was tired. Ash went to bed early, Fionn soon followed her example, and shortly after that George did as well. Harry was just deciding to go to bed himself when Fred spoke.

"You hurt him you know?"

"I... what?" His brain wasn't working as well as it should, to tired and too much had happened in the last few days.

"Fionn. I don't know what happened exactly, and really, George is better at this stuff than I am. But he spent today cheering Fionn up, so I guess it's my job to point out that you screwed up." Fred's blue eyes were serious as he looked at Harry. It was something Harry had been noticing about both twins more lately, that they actually did have a serious side. At least some of the time.

"Er...yeah. I know. But he _kissed_ me Fred! I wasn't expecting that, and I still don't even know if I like guys. It's not like I'd ever hurt him purposely you know."

"He kissed you. Did you kiss him back? Because honestly, if you did and that was his reaction, you must be one bad kisser!" Fred laughed.

"No...I was a bit too surprised I guess. By the time I realized that he was kissing me, he'd stopped and then went to join you guys."

"So basically, Fionn kissed you and you did absolutely nothing? You just stood there? No wonder the poor guy was so hurt looking." Fred shook his head slowly. "You're Courting Harry. From what we've been told about that, it seems to be a pretty serious thing here. How could you _not_ expect him to kiss you at some point?"

Harry blushed brightly and raked a hand through his hair. "I don't know! I didn't really think about it, okay? I mean, I was going to say no when he asked me for permission to Court me. But Ash made this big deal about it, and he looked so hurt, I figured that if I said yes, he'd realize that it wasn't going to work at some point..."

"So basically, instead of hurting him once, and early on. You decided it would be better to lead him on, and hurt him a few times until he 'realized that it wasn't going to work'? That doesn't sound like the Harry I thought I knew."

"It's not like that! How am I supposed to even figure out if I'm gay?" Harry looked over at Fred, eyes pained. "The last thing I ever wanted to do was add to the hurt he's already gotten. But I don't know if I can..." He trailed off and shook his head.

"Pretend a moment that Fionn isn't a guy. What was the kiss like? Was it better or worse than the ones you've gotten from girls?"

Harry licked his lips nervously and closed his eyes in thought a moment. "It was...nice. Warm." His eyes opened and he looked at Fred. "I don't have much to compare it to... but it wasn't bad or anything. I just... what if it was a fluke or something? I mean, what if I never see him that way? Won't it hurt him more to respond now and then refuse him at the end of the Courtship?"

"What if you _do_ end up seeing him that way? Would that be so bad?" Fred slid closer on the couch they were sharing. 

There was something in the way he looked at Harry that made the hair raise up on the back of his neck, like he was getting set up for a prank or something equally devious. "I...no. But if I go along with things, and then at the end it doesn't work out, wouldn't that be worse? Leading him on in that way?" Harry dropped his eyes, he didn't know if he liked guys, or Fionn, or what. And he couldn't believe he was having this conversation with _Fred_.

Fred reached out and lifted Harry's chin until Harry was looking him in the eyes again. And then, he leaned in and kissed Harry. Harry couldn't think, his mind just froze. Kissed by two guys in one day? What the hell was going on in his life? Fred's kiss was polar opposite of Fionn's. Where Fionn was soft and gentle, Fred was firm, and a bit demanding. He was in full control, and Harry was just along for the ride. And then, it was over. Fred was moving back, and Harry opened his eyes. He didn't even remember _closing_ them in the first place.

"George is going to kill me if he finds out about that. But at least you now have more references for comparison's sake." Fred grinned crookedly. "Well?"

Harry gaped a moment, and then shut his mouth with a click as his teeth met. "Uh... Fred?" His voice almost squeaked on the name, and he blushed brightly again.

Fred chuckled and tousled Harry's hair. "You said you hadn't kissed enough people to know, and kept going on about wanting to know if you were gay or not. If you liked both of today's kisses, you certainly aren't straight. Think about it, but I'm going to bed." He stood and stretched, yawning widely and then walked from the room like nothing had happened at all. 

Harry just stared after him in shocked silence for a moment, and then touched his lips, mind whirling. He'd liked both kisses. More than he wanted to admit, but Fred wasn't interested in him. Had never given him any reason to think he saw him as anything more than a friend or surrogate little brother. So kissing someone who wasn't interested in him, was just as good as kissing someone who _was._ And both were better than the kisses he'd shared with girls in the past. But...did that really mean he was gay? He shook his head, thoughts still whirling in his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go, a chapter just for all the people who have been asking for more Harry/twins. *grins*
> 
> Also, there is now a Spoilers thread in the review forum for this fic.
> 
> http://www.fanfiction.net/forum/Shadows-and-Light/138524/


	17. Hermione

Harry was going to have to fix things with Fionn, and soon. The only problem was, he wasn't sure _how_ he was going to do it. The Fae was still sharing his room and bed, and wasn't outright ignoring him... but Harry could tell that things were not the way they had been, or the way they should be. Right now, everyone was gathered in Ash's sitting room. It had been decided that as Harry really needed to know where Hermione stood, that he and Ash would go visit her. Only this time they would need to do so much more carefully than when they had visited Fred and George. If she was still on Harry's side, he didn't want to alert Dumbledore to the fact that he was going to see her. He couldn't bring her to the Realm, Ash had no more space for people, and he was sure Hermione wouldn't want to leave her parents in any case.

Fred, George, and Fionn would be going back to the twins' flat to pick up a few things they had forgotten, as well as some items Fred and George wanted to tweak to see if they could make them work on those living in the Realm. Fionn's Fae talent was glamors, he would easily be able to disguise himself and the twins, and if anything went wrong, Fred or George could apparate them to Hermione's home. Harry didn't like the idea of them all splitting up, but had to admit it would be easier to sneak two people in, than five.

They all gathered into a close group, Harry to Ash's left with an arm around Fionn. Then Fred, then George, everyone holding onto the person next to them, with George on Ash's right. Ash called Air, and they were quickly in the twins' flat.

"Remember, don't stay longer than you have to. We'll meet you at Gringotts in an hour and a half." 

"Yes mum!" Fred and George saluted Ash cheekily, and then dragged Fionn off.

"Children, no respect!" Ash mock-sighed. "All right Harry, one more charm and then we can be off." They were already wearing the glamor that hid their Demon attributes, but had decided that being invisible would be the best way to hide their visit from Dumbledore. Raising one hand palm-up, Ash called a whisper of Air and then blew lightly towards Harry. As it hit him, the Air warped the light around Harry, and he vanished from sight. Then Ash wrapped Air around herself, and vanished as well. Reaching out to where Harry had been standing, she managed to grab his arm and pull him towards herself, before calling up Air a final time and take them both to the street Hermione lived on. 

Harry had never been there, but he knew what house number was hers, and from the description she had given of her home over the years, they were able to find the right house after only a few minutes. Being a Muggle house, there were no wards to deal with, and Ash simply called Air again to get them inside and upstairs. Harry poked his head in a few doorways, and finally found a room that looked like it should belong to Hermione. 

Ceiling to floor bookcases on three walls, and a desk that was covered in more books, plus parchment and quills. Everything was done in a rich brown wood, with gold and cream accents. 

"So what's the plan now? If we just wait here, she may not come in until after we have to go meet the others. And after all the work I went to in hiding us, walking around yelling for her isn't going to work either." As Ash spoke, the bed seemed to shift a little, and then one of the random lumps started to move towards them. As it reached the edge of the bed, there was a soft thump, and Crookshanks dropped to the floor. His fur fluffed out a bit and he glared around, like he _knew_ something was there, even if he couldn't see it.

"Quick! Drop the invisibility charm on me, Crookshanks can fetch Hermione for us."

Crookshanks began a low thrumming growl, his ears flattening to his head as he tried to find the source of the voices. As soon as Harry could see himself again, he knelt down and reached out a hand. "Easy Crookshanks, it's just me. You remember me, I didn't mean to startle you." The cat stared at him a moment longer and then slowly slunk forward to sniff his fingers. His fur smoothed itself out, as much as it was capable of, and his ears returned to their normal angle. "That's it. Nothing to worry about. I really need to talk to Hermione though, could you bring her up here for me? Please?"

A soft snort of laughter could be heard from over near the desk, Harry was sure Ash was laughing at him for talking to a cat. Crookshanks glared in the direction of the desk a moment, before walking past Harry and out the bedroom door. A short while later, he could hear yelling from downstairs, and then the sound of running feet coming up the stairs and towards the bedroom. Crookshanks nearly flew past him, carrying something in his mouth that Harry didn't get the chance to identify, before he shot under the bed. Harry quickly moved behind the door in case it wasn't Hermione chasing the cat, and a moment later a breathless Hermione ran into the room and slammed the door shut.

"Crookshanks! Give me that-- Harry?!" Her wand was out and pointed at Harry before he had time to speak. "Harry Potter! Where have you _been?!_ You had us all worried! It's all well and good to send a note saying you're fine, but a little more information would have been nice. Like where you were going. _Why_ you were going. You know your relatives are the safest place for you to be during the summer!" As she spoke, she was advancing on Harry until he was backed up against the wall, her wand still waving about in his face.

"Er... Hermione."

"I was worried sick! What if the Death Eaters had found you!"

"Hermione."

"You could have been _dead_ and we wouldn't have known where to start looking for you!"

" _Hermione!_ "

"What?!"

"Could you please stop waving your wand in my face? I can't really answer any questions if you don't give me time _to_ answer them."

Blushing brightly, Hermione slid her wand back up her sleeve. "I'm sorry Harry. I was just so worried about you!" And suddenly Harry had a face full of bushy hair as Hermione threw herself at him and hugged him tightly. Her shoulders shook slightly, and his neck was getting a little damp as he realized that she was crying softly.

He held her, at a slight loss about what to do. He glanced towards the desk, but Ash was no help, she was visible again and sitting in the chair laughing silently at him. "I didn't mean to worry you, it's just so much has happened so quickly... Oh, and please don't freak out, but I brought someone with me. I promise to explain what I can, but I need to ask you a few things first."

Hermione finally pulled back, her eyes were reddened and her face wet. She scrubbed at her face with one sleeve, holding onto Harry with her other hand as though she thought he was going to run off and leave her again. Looking around the room quickly, she spotted Ash sitting at her desk and frowned. "She's not a student. Who is she Harry? And what is going on?"

"That's Ash, she's my... guardian at the moment I guess. I really do need to ask you something before I explain any further Hermione. Please don't be mad?"

"Hurry up and ask so you can get to the explaining part then."

"I was talking to the Goblins, and found out that Dumbledore, Molly and Ron have been stealing from me for years. Please tell me you didn't know anything about that." Harry knew it would hurt if she had known, and sided with Dumbledore, but he hadn't realized just how _much_ it would hurt until he was standing there and talking to her again. She had been his best friend for years, and he considered her to be like a sister as well. Losing her would hurt, a lot, which was the main reason he had put off contacting her for so long.

Hermione stared at him in shock for a moment. "Are you sure Harry? I can't believe they would do something like that to you. Ron's your best friend!"

"I know. I couldn't believe it either. But Ragnok, he's my account manager, showed me statements going back to my eleventh birthday."

She shook her head and hugged him tightly again. "That's awful! Harry I had no idea! What are you going to do?"

"I haven't decided yet. A lot has been going on. On my birthday I came into--"

"Harry. Fred and George gave you Oaths, I know you didn't ask for them. But considering everything we've been learning, I think you should ask for one before you tell her anything else." Ash held up a hand as Harry started to protest. "I know she's your friend, and you want to trust her. But some of the stuff you are about to tell her will make her a bigger target if anyone thinks she knows. And I hate to say it, but you were wrong about that other boy..."

"No. She's right Harry." This time Hermione interrupted him as he tried to speak. "If Ron could lie for so long, it only makes sense that you be sure." She pulled out her wand again. "I, Hermione Jean Granger, swear that I knew nothing of what Ron, Molly or Dumbledore was doing with Harry's money." A glow surrounded her and then was gone. She put her wand away again and dragged Harry to sit on her bed. "Now, tell me what's been going on. Why did you leave?"

Harry took a deep breath and began the explanation. He'd been right, she wanted to know _everything_ about the Realm and the creatures that lived there. She asked so many questions, that the time flew by.

"Sorry, but we have to be meeting the others. I'll bring you back some other time Harry." Ash finally spoke.

"I have to go, but I promise I'll visit you again as soon as I can." Harry hugged Hermione and stood. "Remember, you can get in touch with me through Gringotts."

"I will Harry. But you better promise to write me and visit soon!"

"I promise!" Harry laughed, and then Ash was calling Air and they were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the longer-than-usual delay in updates. Was fairly busy this week. Next chapter we finally get to know exactly what the brand does.


	18. It Does WHAT?!

"Fionn, I'm sorry." The Fae continued buttoning his white silk shirt, though he darted a quick glance at Harry from under his fall of hair as he did so. "I know I haven't been approaching this Courting thing the way I should. But honestly, I didn't..." He stopped and shook his head, then started over. "I don't have any real experience with dating. I mean, I tried it twice, with girls, and it was... worse than bad. I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know if I _like_ guys. I mean, the kiss was better than with the girls, but does that mean anything besides that you're good at it?" He had almost said kiss _es_ , and wouldn't _that_ have gotten him and Fred both in trouble!

Fionn finally looked at him, more than just a quick glance. He seemed to be considering something. "You think I'm a good kisser?"

"I--yes?" Harry blushed brightly and tried to look away, but the golden gaze wouldn't allow it.

"If this is going to work, you'll have to _try._ You don't have to...accept me... at the end, but you have to give it a chance to work." Fionn's voice was slightly pained, and softer than usual when he said 'accept me', but he continued on. "Will you do that? Will you try?"

Harry nodded silently, but Fionn didn't move or speak. "I can do that. I'll try." He had the feeling that he was going to have to prove his words at some point, and it was better to do it now, while they were still alone, than in front of the twins or Ash. He reached deep inside himself for some of the Gryffindor courage he was supposed to have, and then he approached the Fae. It was still weird, doing this kind of stuff with a _guy_ , but he'd promised. Slowly he reached out and cupped Fionn's face in his hands, then he tilted his face up and _kissed_ the Fae. Fionn's eyes widened in surprise, and then they slowly fluttered closed. One hand steadied himself by resting on Harry's left shoulder, and he returned the kiss. It was just as gentle as the last one, but so much better now that he was actively participating instead of just standing there like an idiot.

When they finally broke apart, Fionn smiled shyly and looked away, though he took one of Harry's hands in his own. Harry for his part, was thinking that this might actually work. Had Fionn been a girl, he wouldn't have the issues he had been having, so if he just ignored the fact that the Fae was a boy... Did it really matter what gender someone was, if they were perfect for you in all other ways?

A red message light flew through his closed door and came to hover in front of Harry. He sighed, why was it that something always had to interrupt when he was discovering something important? Couldn't he get a lazy day with no distractions, just once? Holding out his hand palm up, he allowed the message to play.

"Great. I've been called to see Healer Tristan. Says he has some people who are experts in Soul Magic, and want to examine the brand. And they want to do it today, as soon as possible."

"Then we had better go tell Ash."

**~***~**

The room they were shown into, was larger than the usual room Harry met Healer Tristan in. He supposed that was most likely due to the fact that Fred and George had insisted on coming with them. Five people, plus however many Healer Tristan was bringing, would hardly fit in the usual room. This room looked just like the other, only it was at least three times the size, with five chairs along the wall instead of one. Ash took the one closest to the door, and pointedly looked at Fred and George, then the chairs next to her. They got the message and sat instead of checking out the cabinets and drawers as Harry was sure they wanted to.

Harry sat on the edge of the exam table, and Fionn stood beside him, holding his left hand. The Fae hadn't let go of him for long at all since Harry had kissed him. It made Harry feel a little bad, had Fionn been that worried that he was going to break the Courtship?

When the door opened, Harry looked up expecting to see Healer Tristan. His eyes widened in surprise at what he saw instead. A very tall man, well over 6' tall, probably closer to 6'6", walked into the room. He had long, straight black hair that fell to his mid-back, and glowing red eyes. His skin was a dark grey-black, not a human color, and the aura he gave off made Harry shiver. It was dark, almost scarily so, but it didn't have the evil feel that Voldemort's did. He was wearing black from head to toe. Was this a Djinn?

Following him, was a comparatively shorter man, around 5'9". His skin was a light caramel color, and his hair was blood red, falling to mid-thigh. He wore his hair in thousands of tiny braids, each one ending in what looked like an amber bead. His hair made a soft shushing sound as he moved, and the beads clicked quietly together. His eyes were a dark red, and had golden lines in the skin around them. Harry didn't know for sure, but they _looked_ kind of like some of the markings he had seen in Hermione's Ancient Rune homework. This new Fae wore a sleeveless gold silk shirt, with a v-neck, and tight black leather pants and boots. He was also smirking, and Harry suddenly realized he had been staring.

Healer Tristan hurried in the room after the other two and smiled. "Ah good, everyone's here. Harry, this is Djuran, he is the Djinn I spoke to you about that specializes in Soul Magics. And this is Rialyn, he's a Healer, though not for any of the Hospitals."

"Independent contractor you might say. Thanks Tristan, we'll be taking it from here." Rialyn flashed a smile and waved the other Healer off towards the door without really looking at Tristan _or_ the door. Tristan sputtered for a moment, but finally left when neither Rialyn nor Djuran paid him the slightest bit of attention. Indeed, it looked as though they had totally forgotten Tristan existed, the moment he was done introducing them.

"We'll need to see the brand Harry, and he-" Djuran pointed at Fionn, "will need to move elsewhere. His magic will interfere with our readings." Djuran's voice was low, and surprisingly warm for how dark his aura was.

Harry squeezed Fionn's hand and then released him as he got off the exam table. Fionn went to sit by George, and Harry dropped his shirt on the table and turned his back to everyone. Wings spread and out of the way, he waited for the usual inspection. Really, this was getting old, he just wanted to know what it _did_ already, and then get rid of it!

"Mmm... He _does_ have a nice ass." The voice was closer behind him than Harry had expected, and it fairly oozed with ...something. 

Harry lost his thought as he suddenly heard a loud thump, as though someone had been forcefully shoved back into a chair. He started to turn to see what was happening, when a hand landed on his shoulder and held him in place.

"Ri! Now is not the time. We have a job to do, remember?" Djuran sounded slightly exasperated, but not as if this was unusual behavior for the Fae. "Please hold still, we haven't started yet." This last obviously being directed at Harry.

A moment later, the hand was removed from his shoulder, but now he could feel two hands touching the brand. One set of fingers were slightly cool, as though they had been holding a cold drink or something recently, the other was much warmer. And then the brand started to _burn._ Much more than the tingle he usually felt when someone tried to read the magics. He gasped softly and his wings twitched as he forced them to stay extended and out of the way. The burning continued to intensify, to the point that he was going to beg them to stop, and then he felt the fingers draw away. One set trailed lower briefly and pinched him on the ass, he didn't even try to stop the instinctual response. His right wing snapped back and smacked into something solid, there was a yelp, and then he was facing everyone again. 

Rialyn was rubbing his arm, obviously he was the one Harry had smacked, and Djuran was looking every bit as exasperated as his voice had sounded earlier. Fionn looked angry, Harry had never thought to see the Fae that angry, and all of it was currently directed at Rialyn. He had a twin on each side of him now, and they were holding his arms to the chair so he couldn't get up.

"Ri, what have I said about purposely annoying mateships? You're not even really interested, go stand over there where you can't do more harm." Djuran pointed to a corner, as far from Harry and the others as it was possible to get.

"But it's such fun, and he _does_ have a nice ass. I simply couldn't help myself! And I might be interested. Anything is possible." He lounged in his corner, looking pleased with himself.

Harry frowned, looking between his friends and the new people a moment, and then decided to go sit down. He wanted answers, and if that meant he had to bite his tongue for now, he'd do it. But Rialyn was going to get a piece of his mind before he left. Fionn was still looking angry, and George looked at Harry like he wanted him to help keep the Fae from trying to kill. So Harry did the only thing that came to mind, and slid into Fionn's chair, pulling the Fae partially onto his lap and wrapping both arms around him. Fionn's body was stiff in his arms, but he gradually relaxed against him.

"Tristan was right to call us in. It is Soul Magic. Specifically, it is meant to swap your soul for the soul of the one who placed the brand on you. It holds your Demon magic in check, so it cannot be accessed beyond the bare minimum. When you die, the brand will be triggered, and pull the Demon part of you out, and put the soul of this other into you instead. It also will retain your Wizard magics in your body, so the usurper has full access to your power." Djuran looked Harry in the eyes as he spoke. "I can remove it, with Rialyn's aid. But we need the person who put the brand on you in order to do so."

Harry had gone pale during the explanation, it was one thing to be told that something _might_ be the case, but to be told that he really _did_ have something on him that was meant to put someone else's soul into his body... And Djuran had said he had to die for it to happen, so did that mean Voldemort wanted his body? That would make sense, Voldemort's body was disgusting, and he certainly wouldn't want it, but... how would Voldemort have managed to brand him?

"There are trackers already searching for the one who did this, they went out a few mortal realm days ago." Ash spoke when it was apparent that Harry was in no shape to do so.

"So they should be back soon then. That's good. We'll be in the area, when the time comes, we'll be ready."

Ash gathered everyone, it was apparent that Harry was in too much shock to ask anything more right now. But as Harry finally stood, prodded by Fred, he remembered he hadn't yet given Rialyn a piece of his mind. Still holding onto Fionn, he wheeled around and narrowed his eyes at the red-haired Fae.

"If you _ever_ touch me without my permission again, you will regret it. I may not have use of my Demon magics, but my _Wizarding_ magic works just fine."

Rialyn tilted his head to the side and smirked as he licked his lips. "I'll have to keep that in mind... Harry..." He nearly purred the name, and Fred and George dragged Harry and Fionn out of the room before anything else could be said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought I should put in a pronunciation guide, as I've added two new strange names. *laughs*
> 
> Fionn: Pronounced Fee-on. Nickname is Fi, which is pronounced Fee.  
> Djuran: Pronounced D'jur (as in the first part of Jury)-an.  
> Rialyn: Pronounced Ree-al-in. Nickname is Ri, pronounced Ree.


	19. Another Twist

Harry was seeing red, it was a good thing his Demon magics were out of reach for now, otherwise he thought he just might have set Rialyn on fire. As he was imagining those blood-red braids going up in flames, he was jerked from his daydream by Ash. 

The moment they had all hit the corridor, she called Air and transported them to her house. The only time Harry could remember her calling Air to get them somewhere in the Realm, had been the day he rescued Fionn. And if he had thought _he_ was pissed, it was nothing compared to the look on Ash's face when they arrived. She immediately began pacing the sitting room, her wings snapping out and mantling around her as she paced. Finally she looked up at all of them and pointed from them to the furniture.

"Sit. Now."

Everyone hurried to obey, Ash in this kind of mood was quite scary, and no one had any idea just what had set her off. Harry and Fionn got the couch, with George beside Fionn, and Fred grabbed an armchair near George. Ash paced a few more times, took a breath, and then turned to look at them all.

"I'm guessing by your lack of reaction during most of what Rialyn did, that your Demon magics aren't the only thing the brand is affecting. Or were you suppressing your instincts for some reason?" She looked directly at Harry and waited.

Fionn looked surprised, and then thoughtful, settling a little more firmly against Harry's side. Harry just looked confused for a moment. "Instincts? It was obnoxious, and I wanted to smack him, but I also wanted to know what they found out. So I waited and yelled at him _after_ Djuran explained." He still looked a little uncertain, as though he wasn't sure that's what Ash was asking him.

Ash sighed and closed her eyes, visibly reigning in her temper and settling her wings back into a relaxed state. Flopping down in another armchair across from the couch, she finally spoke again. "I'm not mad at _you_ Harry. Apparently I didn't explain some things as well as I thought. Okay. Let's try this. Courtship. Two people enter into it to see if they are as compatible as they think, and at the end of it, the one being Courted accepts the other into a mateship or does not. Yes?"

Harry nodded silently, he had no idea where this was going, but was beginning to feel that sinking sensation. The one he got when some new twist on his screwed up life reared it's head.

"And when Courtship begins, one person asks the other formally, and is accepted formally, in front of at least one witness. Yes?"

Harry nodded again.

"Which is when it becomes a _magically binding contract._ " Ash paused to let that sink in a moment.

Harry's eyes went huge, magically binding...and he had almost no access whatsoever to his Demon magics. Was this part of why he always felt so out of step with what was going on? With what Fionn was obviously expecting from him? Not just that he didn't know the stuff the Realm-born knew, and not just that Fionn was broken and seemed to need him more than Harry thought was good for him. But there was actually something that was supposed to be guiding him, and it wasn't working because of that bloody brand?

"Does that mean that Harry and Fionn aren't actually Courting? Since he can't access his Demon abilities, so can't enter a magical contract?" Fred asked.

Ash shook her head, at the same time as Fionn tightened his grip on Harry's arm. "No. Fionn's half of the Courtship magics are in full affect. As you noticed in the room today. That was hardly in character for him, or at least, not in character as he is now. The Courtship is in effect, it's just... skipping... the parts that Harry is supposed to be dealing with. And that leaves a large hole in the magics. Normally, when you are Courting, you can feel to a small extent, the needs of the others in the Courtship. Harry doesn't appear to be getting that part of it. When someone tries to flirt with one who is Courting, that triggers an instinctual response, that of protecting the potential mateship, not allowing anyone else to break them apart. Only since Harry's magic can't connect with Fionn's the way it's supposed to, that made Fionn's instinct kick into higher gear than usual. You can add more people to the Courtship, if all current people agree, though that's rare. But that was not what Rialyn was trying to do. And so Fionn's instinct was telling him that he had to remove the threat."

Harry slid an arm around Fionn, pulling him a little closer against his side. All the various little hurts that he had done to the Fae, without knowing what he had done, or how to fix them, could have all been avoided if only he didn't have that brand on him! Harry's eyes narrowed a little as he thought. That just made him even more determined to do what he had to do, to get rid of it as soon as possible. He hadn't been as concerned as he should have been, since it didn't seem to be affecting his Wizarding magics. But he could now see that he should have been more worried, more focused on getting rid of it. 

"I think that once the brand is removed, that Harry's half of the Courtship magics should snap into place. But it's possible that the Courtship will have to be re-started. I don't know. The other thing that concerns me at the moment... Djinn's don't do anything for free. And Djuran said nothing about what he would require as payment for removing the brand from you Harry. For that matter, neither did Rialyn. Since he doesn't work for a specific hospital, his fee won't fall under the normal ones for a hospital visit. And they're both experts in Soul Magics. Which means they most likely won't ask you for money."

"They can't have him. I won't accept either of them into our Courtship." Fionn's voice was soft, but quite fierce in his declaration.

"I wouldn't agree to that even if they asked Fionn. Eternity with Rialyn is enough to make me want to take my chances on finding another way." Harry squeezed Fionn's side lightly, and the Fae leaned back against him again.

"So, I have a question. Just how are you able to sit in chairs and couches without your wings getting bent?" Fred grinned, quite obviously trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Ash rolled her eyes. "Magic. The same spells that make our clothes able to pass our wings through, allows the furniture to do the same. You're a Wizard, did you _really_ need to ask that?"

George snickered at his brother, and ducked when Fred tried to smack him on the head. "How does the government here work? Is there a separate government for each type of creature?"

"Yes... and also no." Ash grinned at the looks she received for that answer. "There is a High Council, which is the ruling body of the Realm. Each species has a seat, divided by type. For the Demons, we have the Lord of the Flame, Lady of the Storm, Lord of the Shadow, Lord of the Water, Lady of the Air, and the Lord of the Earth. Your friend Gideon, Harry, is the nephew of the Lord of the Shadow. And Herne is the grandson of the Lord of the Earth. There is a meeting once a year, where anyone can bring requests and complaints before the Council. However, you must submit your request to your representative beforehand, so they can be sorted through. Don't want to have to sit through a bunch of the exact same complaints and requests. They are the ones who make all the laws, and see that everyone obeys them. It's a hereditary post, but the current Lord or Lady chooses their successor from their own bloodline. Which means that everyone in the immediate family is always trying to become the favorite so they're chosen once the current Lord or Lady gets tired of the post and steps down."

"Each of the four branches of the Fae have a seat, but I'm not sure who holds them right now." Fionn looked a touch embarrassed to admit that he did not know which of his people currently held seats. Though it was understandable as he hadn't been in any kind of position where he could follow that sort of thing.

"Four branches? Do you mean there are four main kinds of Fae?" Harry asked curiously.

Fionn nodded. "There are four main branches of Fae, each branch has a specific Fae Gift that only that branch can command. We gain other Gifts as we age, and depending on what kind of things we're exposed to. If one of us falls off a cliff, we might gain the Gift of flight, or we might just die. It's hard to tell what we will receive, and when. The Golden Fae are all Illusionists." He lifted a hand, and a golden butterfly made entirely of shimmering light fluttered around his fingers before vanishing again. "The Indigo Fae are all Seers. Lotus Fae have Voice Magics, and Centaury Fae are Shape-Shifters."

Fred whistled. "With all the different magics you lot have, it must be quite a trick to keep everyone in line. And we thought it was bad in the Wizarding Realm with all the different people and creatures!"

"It _is_ bad Gred. Remember the Ministry? And Fudge? Can't have forgotten him already!"

"True. And I was _trying_ to forget him, now that's dashed! Thanks Forge."

Harry laughed and shook his head. It seemed the twins would never change, and that was good. So many things in his life were changing at a moments notice as it was. He couldn't help but wish that there was a way to keep Fred and George around, the thought of them growing old and dying while he stayed young looking and lived forever... he didn't want to think about it. So for now, he wouldn't. He didn't even realize that he had been successfully distracted, and Fionn too. Fred and George shot each other grins while no one was watching. Mission accomplished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Indigo is a color that is linked to other senses, your "third eye", and being able to see beyond the normal. So I felt it was fitting for the name of the Seer branch of Fae.
> 
> Lotus was used in ancient times as an aphrodisiac, as well as to control the minds of slaves. Hence, being the name of the Fae who have Voice Magics.
> 
> Centaury is an herb long thought to help with shape-shifting.
> 
> Sorry for the delay in this chapter, and it isn't even hugely beyond the normal word count. Work has been evil this week!


	20. Oops

Fred held out a stack of letters to Harry. "All done. I honestly can't see Bill, Charlie or Dad knowing anything about what Mum did. But I wouldn't have believed it of Mum either before you told us." He shrugged and looked a little miserably at Harry, George rested his chin on Fred's shoulder.

Harry sighed as he took the stack of letters. "Yeah. I know. Hopefully none of the rest of your family was in on it." When he looked back up at them, he did a double-take and then his eyes widened. "Ash! _ASH!_ "

Fred and George looked confused as Ash came running into the room. "What's wrong? Why are you yelling for me like that?"

Harry pointed a finger towards the twins. "Uh Ash. When Fionn was talking about Wizards fading in the Realm, no one actually explained what that looked like. It doesn't look like _that_... does it?"

Fred's form was slightly - fuzzy - around the edges, though the rest of him looked fine. George didn't have the fuzzy edges, but he was paler than usual, paler than Fred was. Ash reached out and poked them, making them both jump. "Shit. Usually they last longer than _this._ You two are going to have to go back to the mortal Realm, no later than the end of today."

"But-"

"No buts. Do you want to fade out of existence? Vacation is over kids, decide what you want to see or do today, and I'll be taking you back to the mortal Realm tonight."

Fred and George looked at each other, doing their communicating without words thing. Just as George opened his mouth to say what they had decided, a red message light flew into the room and up to Harry.

"The Warriors are back, with a prisoner. They want to know if the brand can be removed today. Apparently they don't want to take any chances of anything happening to the prisoner before he can be put to use." He looked apologetically at the twins. "Sorry guys, maybe Ash or Fionn will take you around somewhere for your last day?"

"No Harry, we want to see this. It sounds interesting,"

"And dangerous!"

"And we want to be there."

"Well, if you're sure..."

****

~***~

The room they entered was made entirely of plain grey stone. It was twice as large as the exam room they had been in last time, and there were no chairs or other furniture in sight. The walls and ceiling were completely smooth, and had no designs or pattern to them. Most of the floor was smooth and flat, but there were two places, one in the far left corner of the room, and one to the right of the door, where the floor had what looked like a miniature wall in it. These walls were only three inches tall, and about two inches wide, but they went right to the actual walls like they were mapping out rooms within the room. Harry wondered what they were for.

As they were looking around at the room, the door opened and Rialyn and Djuran came in, followed by Gideon, Herne and Laric. The Warriors had a bundle swathed in blankets hovering in the air behind them. They headed to the far left, where the not-room was and dumped the bundle onto the floor inside the miniature walls. Laric and Herne stayed facing the bundle, and Gideon turned to face into the room.

"Hey, I thought only Fae and Succubi had colored hair." Fred said in a voice that sounded like it was meant to be a whisper but didn't quite carry it off. "So why does that Demon have purple hair?"

Harry hadn't ever thought about why Gideon had purple hair before, it was just one of those things. He shrugged at Fred. "No idea?"

Laric and Herne were trying not to laugh, Gideon just had a blank expression, and then Herne whispered, though his voice carried clearly in the quiet room. "He dyes it!"

_Whack!_ Gideon smacked the back of Herne's head with one wing, Laric's shoulders were shaking as he laughed silently.

"If we're done fooling around, I'd like to get started." Djuran had his arms crossed and looked a little bored.

"Uhm... Can I ask who it is? I'd kind of like to know who did this to me, and why."

Gideon frowned. "He's been drugged so he can't interfere with the removal Harry. But I can tell you what he said when we interrogated him if you really want to know. It wasn't... pleasant. I think he's more than a bit insane."

"I want to know. Whoever it is blocked off a major part of me, and it's still screwing with my life. Tell me."

"He said that there was a prophecy, you were fated to be the one to kill some Dark Lord in your Realm. But this Lord had split his soul into seven Horcruxes that needed to be destroyed first. And he said that... he believed you were one of them." Gideon paused a moment, both to let that sink in and because Djuran had hissed when he said the word 'horcruxes' and was now cursing with Rialyn in another language.

Harry paled, and reached up to rub his scar. "No... that can't be. I can't be a horcrux, why would he want to steal my body if I was a horcrux?" Fionn came up behind him and held Harry.

"He said that once the other horcruxes were destroyed, killing you would destroy the one inside you. He planned to have you and this Dark Lord kill each other, and then when you died he would transfer his soul into your body. So he would then be able to pretend to be you and get the fame for himself. He wanted to be the most powerful Wizard alive and rule the world. But he didn't want to have to deal with being a creature, so he blocked that part out, said it would die along with your soul. And he would be young again, so he'd have many years of power ahead of him." Gideon said.

Laric reached out and vanished the blankets once Gideon stopped talking. Harry's eyes immediately went to the form now revealed. Albus Dumbledore was laying unconscious on the stone floor. He looked worse for wear, his eyebrows were singed, and half of his beard was gone. What was left of his robes were dirty and torn, and there were bruises on some of the revealed skin, as well as cuts and some blood. It must have been quite a fight, though the Warriors didn't appear to have a scratch on them. Harry couldn't speak, he just stood there silently staring. He knew Dumbledore wasn't as good as he wanted everyone to believe, he'd been stealing money from Harry after all. But he really hadn't thought the old man would do something this horrible. Plotting Harry's death and taking over the world? That was something he expected _Voldemort_ to do, not Dumbledore.

Fionn held Harry tightly, and even Fred and George looked shocked.

"Hate to break this up people, but this is going to take a while as it is. Can we get started already?" Rialyn spoke into the silence that had fallen, argument with Djuran finally over.

That seemed to snap Harry out of his thoughts. "Ash said you guys never do this kind of thing for free. But you didn't mention payment to me when we met last time. What am I going to owe you for this?"

Rialyn smirked and started to open his mouth, but Djuran spoke first. "There is nothing we need right now. And we aren't short of money. I think a promise of a favor to be given in the future for each of us would cover it."

"But that could be anything! Harry can't promise something like that!" George gasped.

"That is the payment we wish. If you refuse, you can find another Soul Magic expert and try negotiating with them." Djuran smiled slightly, he knew there were no other Soul Magic experts that could come on this kind of notice.

Harry considered carefully, he didn't like the terms, but better the ones he knew than someone who might ask for worse. "I accept, with conditions."

Djuran arched a single black brow.

"You cannot ask for anything that would damage or break up any mateships I have, or am working towards, at the time of the request. You cannot ask me to kill anyone besides Voldemort. You cannot ask about secrets I have, or have been told by others. And you cannot indenture me or anyone I consider mine." Harry covered the things that were most important to him, and hoped he hadn't left any loopholes that he would regret later.

Djuran glanced at Rialyn. The Fae spoke a single word in a language Harry didn't know, and the gold markings around his eyes _glowed._ Rialyn's eyes unfocused and in a voice nothing like his usual he finally spoke. "Done. Done. Done and Done." The markings went flat and dim again, and his eyes focused once more. "Your terms are accepted in exchange for a favor given in the future for both Djuran and I."

"Now, you three will need to be in the shielding with the prisoner." Djuran spoke to the Warriors, who all carefully stepped over the wall and took up positions facing Dumbledore. "Harry stand here in the center, and the rest of you stand in the shielding by the door. Once we start you will be unable to leave until we are finished." He looked down at Harry as the others moved into position. "This will most likely hurt."

Harry just nodded and silently went to stand between Djuran and Rialyn. Rialyn was closest to Dumbledore but was facing Harry's friends. Djuran was facing Dumbledore and the Warriors. Once all were in position, Djuran spoke two sharp words in that unknown language and glowing barriers sprang up from the miniature walls on the floor. They sealed off the two groups inside of them and went all the way to the ceiling with no gaps. Then Djuran and Rialyn raised their hands, left palms facing each other, right palms facing Harry and began to chant.

Harry tuned it out, he couldn't understand it and the magic that was now swirling in the room was making him just a bit nervous. He wondered if he was supposed to have removed his shirt like he had for the brand readings, but decided that he would have been told to do so if it had been needed. As the chanting grew in volume, the magic almost became visible, he had the feeling that if he could just look in the right way, he'd be able to see it instead of just feeling it. Wind pulled at his hair and clothing, but it wasn't like any wind he had felt before, this was made of pure magic. As it grew stronger, he felt the brand on his lower back begin to heat up. It felt like it was being burned off his skin, or _through_ his skin. He didn't care and couldn't tell, it just _hurt_. 

Those watching saw Harry start to glow, first from his back, and then it spread out to cover his entire body. Then the screaming started. Harry was screaming and convulsing in the middle of the room, and suddenly a light shot out from his body and hit Dumbledore. The unconscious Wizard started to twitch and shake as though he was having seizures, but never woke. And still the magic in the room grew. It was so thick it felt like they were swimming in it instead of breathing it.

And that's when they had the first inkling that something wasn't quite right. As the magic pressed in on them, two more beams of light shot out of the circle around Harry, Djuran and Rialyn. And those beams of light and magic went straight for Fred and George. The moment it hit them, both Wizards screamed. They were lifted off their feet and slammed backwards into the stone wall behind them, and nothing Fionn or Ash did would let them approach the twins.

The lights grew brighter, so bright no one could see anything except the light behind their tightly shut eyes. Ash pulled Fionn against her and wrapped them both in her wings, trying to protect him at least from the magics raging through the room. And the screaming from all three Wizards was never-ending. It went on and on, and just when she thought her ears would bleed and she would go deaf, they finally went silent. Yet still the light and magic pressed in on them.

When it was finally over, it took a while to be able to see again, and relearn how to breath. With spots still appearing before her eyes, Ash took a staggering step and looked around. The room looked like it had been set on fire. The once grey stone walls, were now covered in black burned areas. Some of the stone had actually crumbled or melted from the magic, and there were pits and holes everywhere. It looked like a war zone out of a horror book. Harry was unconscious in the middle of the floor, most of his clothes had been burnt off him by the magic, but he didn't appear to have a scratch on him. Dumbledore was gone, completely consumed by the magics used. And when she finally turned to see what had happened to the twins, she could do nothing but stare.

Fred lay slumped against the wall, knocked out cold. George in a heap beside him, also out. And this was a blessing Ash was sure. For where once they had been Wizards, they now had wings. Demon wings, in Jade green with Lapis marble patches. The twins were now Water Demons. There was no sign of the shirts they had been wearing, most likely consumed by the magics that changed them. And now they wouldn't have to worry about leaving the Realm or Fading. But she wasn't sure how they were going to take their new status.

Rialyn raised his head from where he had slumped to the ground, the magics had taken a lot out of him and Djuran. As he looked around the room his eyes fell on Fred and George. He blinked a moment, and then spoke a single word. "Oops."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, those of you wondering how I was going to deal with Fred and George, this should answer that question. *snickers* Did anyone see that coming?
> 
> And I had planned the "he dyes it" line from the moment I introduced Gideon, actually surprised no one mentioned his hair color before now.


	21. What Happened?

Harry woke to a dull, throbbing ache in his head, and the realization that he was laying on cold stone. It took him a few minutes to remember where he was and why. He could hear hushed voices somewhere off to his left, but the pain in his head wasn't letting him concentrate enough to understand the words. He opened his eyes, and then immediately squeezed them shut agian. The light stabbed straight into his brain, making the headache worse. Harry whimpered softly and threw an arm across his closed eyes, trying to block out the light. It helped a bit, but not as much as he was hoping it would. He was more awake now, though still couldn't quite concentrate on the voices he was hearing across the room. He remembered the start of the brand removal, and how much pain he had been in, how thick the air had gotten with magic. Djuran had told him it was going to hurt, but he hadn't realized what an understatement it had been at the time. As Harry was replaying the events in his mind, he suddenly felt a _snap!_ in his head. It was as though a puzzle piece had clicked into place and he suddenly felt emotions he knew were not his own. They weren't strong or overwhelming, more like background noise until he focused on them. _Worry. Fear. Confusion._ Other things he couldn't name.

Harry managed to push himself up into a sitting position, eyes still closed and head bowed against the pain in his head. As he moved, the voices stopped, and he could feel eyes on him. Without conscious thought, he raised one arm, seconds later he felt a body slide under his arm and nestle against his side. And then a light touch on his temples, warmth flooded his head and the ache passed away as though it had never been. Harry slowly opened his eyes, the light didn't hurt him now, and the first thing he saw was Fionn's face. The Fae looked worried, sliding one hand around Harry's back, the other dropping to rest over Harry's heart. Harry pulled him a little closer.

"It's all right, I'm fine. No need to worry so." Harry spoke softly, nearly a whisper, then looked past Fionn. Ash was standing with her hands on her hips glaring at Rialyn. Not really a surprise there, but Harry did wonder what the red-haired Fae had managed to do or say while he was out to get on her bad side. Djuran was looking down at something Harry couldn't see because Ash and Rialyn were blocking his view. And then he realized he couldn't see the twins anywhere.

"Where are Fred and George? Is the brand gone? Completely?"Harry knew it was a bad sign when no one answered him immediately. Djuran spoke, but it was in that language Harry didn't understand. Rialyn answered, the words sounding defensive as he gestured between Harry and the floor behind Ash. Djuran sighed and rubbed his face with one hand, then turned towards Harry. Ash had her arms crossed and one foot was tapping impatiently.

"The brand is gone, you should have no more problems accessing your Demon magics. Fred and George... should be fine. They have not yet woken from the magical backlash." Djuran sounded tired, which was to be expected after all the energy he had poured into removing Harry's brand.

Harry didn't think he liked the way the Djinn had phrased things. 'should be fine' was not the same thing as 'are fine' after all. He tried to stand up to find out for himself what was going on with the twins, but his legs nearly gave out on him. His muscles felt much weaker than he could ever remember them, he trembled all over and the only thing keeping him upright was Fionn. He leaned against the Fae and closed his eyes a moment as his vision swam.

"Am I supposed to be this...tired?" He had almost said 'weak', but he didn't know Rialyn and Djuran well enough to be comfortable letting them know just how far gone he was. Even if he probably _should_ tell them in case it meant something had gone horribly wrong. As he waited for the room to come back into focus, and for someone to answer his question, he felt a presence come up behind him. Before he could do more than think about trying to move to see who it was, Fionn spoke softly.

"Gideon, with Laric and Herne."

"You spent a lot of magic while we were removing the brand Harry. It is only to be expected that you will be disorented and tired for a while. You need sleep and food to help you replace what was lost." Djuran still had a slight edge of annoyance to his voice, but Harry was able to finally focus and see that it wasn't directed at him, but at Rialyn. Now he _really_ wanted to know what he had missed.

Taking a deep breath, he started to take a step forward, determined to force his body to obey him. And nearly fell the moment he shifted his weight to lift the first foot. Fionn staggered slightly and tried to hold Harry upright, but a well-muscled arm slid around Harry's waist from the opposite side and steadied them both. Harry tilted his head up a bit to see who had caught him, and found himself looking up into ice-blue eyes.

Laric looked down at him, no visible expression on his face a moment, and then gave a very faint smile. "I do not believe you should be walking around as yet."

"I want to know what happened to Fred and George." Harry set his chin stubbornly, refusing to look away or back down. He just _knew_ something had happened to the twins, and from how no one was telling him what it was, that everyone knew he wouldn't be happy about it.

Laric glanced from Harry to where Ash, Rialyn and Djuran were still blocking the view of the twins, then back down at Harry before sighing softly. Turning his gaze to Fionn he spoke again. "May I?"

Fionn looked up at the Warrior for a long moment, then back at Harry, before finally nodding silently. Before Harry could ask what was going on, Laric had scooped him up into his arms as though he weighed nothing and began walking towards where the others were standing. Gideon and Herne moved slightly in front of them, their stances protective. Rialyn and Djuran finally moved out of the way, and Harry got his first look at Fred and George. Laric carefully set him down on the ground, and Harry promptly allowed his wobbly legs to collapse so he could get closer to the twins. 

He couldn't think of anything to say at first, his mind was in too much shock. He barely noticed the Warriors and Ash moving around to block Rialyn and Djuran away from him, or Fionn settling down beside him. Harry reached out tentatively and touched Fred's wing. It was real. This wasn't a dream, the twins were really Demons. He looked at George and was reassured at the fact that his chest was rising and falling as he breathed, Fred's as well. But...how had this happened? They were past the age of inheritance, so this shouldn't have been possible. Never mind the fact that his life was full of impossibilities, it wasn't supposed to branch out and effect other people!

"How did this happen?"

"We're not exactly sure Harry. There was so much magic in the room, you were glowing so brightly. And then some of it shot out and hit the Wizard who branded you, and the magic just kept growing. Then more shot out and hit the twins. We could hear them screaming but couldn't get to them, and it got so bright we couldn't see anything. After it was over, they were as you see them now." Ash said quietly.

"But you think it was Rialyn's fault." Harry said flatly. "I saw the way you were all looking at him when I woke up."

"I didn't do it! I don't have that kind of power, and why would I bother if I _did?_ Do you have any idea how much energy that would take?" Rialyn sounded put out, and as though he had already said the same thing numerous times.

"But you were the one facing them, why wouldn't both of you be facing Dumbledore? That would have made more sense, keeping the magics focused away from the others and focused on us?" Harry was tired, but he was forcing his mind to function for just a little bit longer. He wanted to know what had happened now, not later.

"The way the magic was wrapped around you, it had to be unwoven. We couldn't let any remain, and so each of us faced a different direction so we could spin the magic around and off of you and feed it back to the Wizard." Djuran explained.

"Only there was a lot more magic than we were expecting. Your magic was not happy about being bound, and when it combined with the Wizard's magic, it pretty much exploded. You didn't really look at the room, did you?" There was a slight smirk in Rialyn's voice when he said the last.

Harry blinked. The room? Why should he have looked at the room? He craned his head to see around the bodies standing around him and his mouth fell open. It looked like a war had been waged in the room, he hadn't known rock could _melt_. There were cracks and pieces missing, and some of the holes looked like he could fit his entire head inside of them. Maybe... Maybe it _wasn't_ Rialyn's fault? Maybe it was his own fault? Whatever had done it, he hoped Fred and George would forgive him for it and not be too upset.

"Merlin..." It was all too much to take in, in his current state. All he wanted was to fall on his face and sleep for a week or two. But he couldn't seem to let himself yet. "Why aren't they awake yet?"

"Their bodies shut down while they get used to their new species Harry. Yours did the same after your inheritance. They most likely won't wake up until tonight or tomorrow morning. They'll be fine, they just need time to recover, just like you." Ash reassured.

"What about Guides? Are you going to be their Guide as well?"

"No! I mean, I don't think I'm up to teaching three people at once Harry. Uh... we'll have to find a Guide or Guides for them after they wake up." Ash looked a little disturbed at the idea of taking on Fred and George, Harry snickered at the look on her face.

"Laric and I could do it, if you'd be willing to take over occasionally when we are called elsewhere milady." Gideon spoke up for the first time since Harry had woken. 

"I suppose I could do that..." Ash said a little reluctantly, but at least it wouldn't be full-time. "I think it's time to get them back, Harry is about out and while Fred and George can't feel it right now, sleeping on stone isn't the most comfortable of places."

Gideon stepped forwards and lifted Fred with as little effort as Laric had lifted Harry earlier. Herne picked up George, and Harry felt himself being lifted and cradled against Laric's chest once again. Fionn resting a hand on Harry's ankle and giving it a gentle squeeze. Harry thought he should be more upset about being carried like a child, but he was too tired to dredge up enough effort to care. And it was surprisingly comfortable to be held this way, the Warrior was warm, and he found himself sliding down into sleep with his head resting against Laric's shoulder. His last thoughts before sleep claimed him, was that he was glad he had run into them his first day. He didn't know Laric well, as the Warrior didn't speak much, but the others were turning out to be people he thought he could be friends with.


	22. Waking Up

Harry woke to a warm weight on his chest and along his side. He was still sleepy, but it was more of a content, happy to laze around in bed for a while sleepy. Nothing hurt, and he felt lighter than he could ever remember feeling. It was as though he had been walking around with fifty-pound weights on each limb, and suddenly they were gone. He could feel a warm, happy buzz along the bond that had snapped into place in his mind the day before. He had thought it would be disturbing, feeling Fionn's feelings in the back of his head. Almost like he was listening in on things he had no right to. But it wasn't like that at all. He couldn't read the Fae's mind, all he felt was his emotions. And only those when he actually thought about, and focused on the bond between them. Or if the emotions were especially strong. It was actually... comforting in a way. He couldn't explain it, even in his own mind.

Harry slowly opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling a moment before glancing down at the Fae draped across his chest. Fionn's white-blonde hair spilled across Harry's shoulder, his head resting over Harry's heart. He gently carded his fingers through the strands, toying with the ends, and Fionn made a pleased sound. Harry continued to play with Fionn's hair for a few moments, before the Fae finally moved. He didn't move much however, just turned his head so his chin was now resting on Harry's chest and he could blink sleepy golden eyes at Harry.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

Fionn nodded. "I dreamt about you."

"Did you now?" Harry smiled, his eyes looking amusedly down at Fionn.

"Mmm-hmmm." Fionn didn't elaborate, instead he pushed himself up a bit and stretched up to kiss Harry. It started off slowly, just a slightly sleepy good morning kiss, and then it grew. One of Harry's hands wound its way into Fionn's hair, his other drifted to the small of the Fae's back. As the kiss deepened, Fionn gave a soft, almost humming sound. And then their tongues touched for the first time. It sent a pleasant tingle down Harry's spine, he felt goosebumps break out on his arms and the back of his neck. He could faintly smell Fionn's shampoo, and beneath that the Fae's own scent. Sunshine and vanilla. His mind shorted out and all he could do was _feel._ And then Fionn was pulling back, a faint blush dusting along his cheekbones.

"We should get up. Your friends will be waking soon if they haven't already."

Harry was slightly disappointed, but was sure it was mostly due to teenage hormones. He could feel through their bond that Fionn was stopping because he didn't think Harry was ready for more. Or at least, Harry _thought_ that's what he was reading from the Fae. And he was most likely right, it hadn't been that long ago that he had wondered if he even liked guys. He wasn't conflicted about that anymore though. He didn't know if it was because it just didn't _matter_ anymore, or if it was due to the Courtship magics coming online, or being able to embrace his Demonic nature with the brand off. It could be any, all or none of those reasons. It just felt _right_. And he didn't want to screw things up, so he would start paying more attention to how he acted around Fionn.

"I suppose. Though I'm not looking forward to Fred and George's reactions when they find out what happened. They'll either be totally freaked out and hate it, or they'll _love_ the idea. And I'm not really sure which one would be worse, honestly."

Fionn just laughed, sliding from the bed he walked over to the wardrobe before opening the door and pulling out clothes for the day. Harry stretched, hearing his back pop softly, and then followed him to the wardrobe. Leaning around the Fae, he let one hand lightly brush down Fionn's back as he rummaged in the wardrobe with the other. Once they were both dressed, and had completed their morning bathroom routines, they headed out of the bedroom and into the one next door.

Fred and George were laying on their stomachs in the bed, blankets and sheets drawn up to their waists, and then just the sheet draped over their upper bodies. They hadn't moved from the way they had been laid, but as Harry and Fionn watched, Fred's left wing twitched, and George groaned softly into the pillow.

"Anyone catch the hippogriff that ran me down? I think we need to look into a line using hippogriff parts." George mumbled the words, but they could still be made out mostly clearly.

"Too much noise Gred." Fred whined and squinted his eyes tighter shut.

Fionn stepped forward and laid a hand on top of Fred's head, and the other hand on George's head. It was awkward, reaching both from one side of the bed, without hitting Fred's wing, but he managed it. And after the glow from his hands faded away, he returned to Harry's side.

Fred opened his eyes slowly, and then sighed in relief. Pushing himself up, he suddenly stopped and slowly looked over his shoulder. "Bloody hell..."

George's eyes popped open and he tried to roll over to see what had set Fred off. And that's when _he_ realized there was a problem. "The fuck... Why do we have wings growing out of our backs?"

"Yeah, about that..." Harry looked sheepish, running a hand through his hair. "Would you believe me if I told you we're not exactly sure how that happened?"

Both twins just stared at him. "Uhm..." He shifted his feet nervously. "It's true. All I know is when I woke up, you two had been changed into Demons. Uh... Water Demons. Ash said that the magics built up and kind of exploded after connecting me to Dumbledore. Everyone blamed Rialyn, but he insists he didn't do it. So... it's probably my fault?"

Fred looked at George, then back at Harry and Fionn, then back at George. His shoulders started to shake, and soon he was snickering, George as well. "Harry's Law strikes again then?"

"Harry's Law?" Harry looked at them in confusion.

George waved a hand in the air. "Muggles have some saying, 'Whatever can go wrong, will.' or some such. They call it someone-or-other's Law. Well, it fits you better than that Muggle. So-"

"Harry's Law." Fred finished. And then they started laughing in earnest. When they finally stopped, they had tears running down their faces and were gasping for breath. If the laughter had been slightly on the hysterical side for some of it, Harry wasn't about to comment on it.

"You know Forge... this might actually be useful. We wanted to open another store, why not here?"

"Gred, that is a _wonderful_ idea." Fred rubbed his hands together, ignoring or not noticing how his wings rose up behind him as he thought. 

"We'll have to come up with an all-new product line, and tweak the old ones to work on the creatures here..."

"Just think of all the new test subjects!"

"No worries about fading, or how long we stay since the time isn't the same here."

They both looked at each other with identical huge grins on their faces. "This... is going to be _wicked!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not entirely happy with this chapter, but I'm not sure how to tweak it at the moment. Will leave a note if I change things around.
> 
> Boss has changed my work week to where I get _no_ days off now, so updates won't be as often as they used to be. But no worries, there WILL be updates!


	23. Control and a Festival?

Fire was every bit as hard to control as it had been before the brand was removed. However, the reasons were completely different. Before, it had been hard because it took every bit of his concentration and power just to get the smallest flicker of Fire to appear. Now? It took every bit of his concentration to get the Fire to not consume everything. Getting it to appear when he wished it to was no longer an issue at all, he needed it to _disappear_ when he wished. And that was the current problem. Every time he thought he had the last of the flames he had called put out, a new one would spark up somewhere on his body. 

Ash had laughed at him the first few times she told him to douse the flames for the day, and he couldn't seem to do it. But as time dragged on, she was getting less and less amused. At least the Fire wasn't actually burning him, it kind of tickled as it danced across his skin, and while he could feel the heat, it was a pleasant warmth, not the burning pain he had expected it to be.

"Harry! Don't daydream, the more your mind wanders, the less able you are to get rid of your Fire. Concentrate, think about what will happen if you suddenly go up in flames out in public. The Fire may not hurt _you_ but it most definitely _will_ burn others. Including Fionn, and any other mates you end up with."

Harry jerked his thoughts back on track, there was no way he was going to allow his magic to hurt anyone. Not unless he _wanted_ it to hurt them at least, and since he couldn't think of a reason he'd want to set anyone on fire, he had to get control over this now. Frowning in concentration, he willed the flames on his left arm to shrink and vanish. With a soft almost hiss, they grew smaller, becoming tiny pin pricks of fire, and then they were gone. He quickly ran a quick check on himself, and finding no more flames anywhere, he sighed with relief.

He and Ash had been working on control for a few hours now. She had told him it was the most important lesson. When he could call Fire and then make it vanish on command, consistently, she would teach him other things. He was beginning to wonder just how long it was going to take before he was ready to learn something else. It had sounded easy in theory, call Fire, then tell it to go away again. In practice however...

"All right. I think that's enough for today. Go take a shower, Fred and George will be back from their training sessions soon as well. Once you're all back and showered, I have something fun to tell you about!" Ash grinned as she spun around and hurried out the door of the training room.

Harry just shook his head and walked slowly out after her. Even after this long, it still scared him a little bit when she said she had something fun to show or tell him. When he reached his room, he grabbed clean clothes from the wardrobe and hurried into the bathroom. A long hot shower sounded wonderful right now.

When he reached the sitting room, the only one there was Fionn. The Fae was curled up in one corner of the couch, flipping through a sketch book. When Harry sat down beside him, Fionn promptly put the sketch book on the table next to him, and cuddled up against Harry's side.

"Any idea what Ash is planning this time?"

Fionn shook his head. "She just said she wanted to tell you and the twins something. Fred and George haven't come back yet."

As though they had been conjured by the words, Fred and George hurried into the room with mischievous grins on their faces.

"Merlin... What have you two done _now?_ " Harry sighed. They hadn't been Demons for long, but they had already gotten into more trouble than Harry or Ash had thought possible. He now knew why Ash had been so adamant about not being their Guide as well as his.

"Us? Why Harry you wound us!" Fred mock-gasped.

"We barely get into the house and he already thinks the worst of us Forge!"

"Well! We don't have to stand here and listen."

"We could lay here."

"Or sit here."

"But I think it would be better to go shower. There's an annoyed Storm Demon somewhere behind us, remember Forge?"

"Right you are Gred! To the shower!"

"Better hurry, Ash has something she wants to tell us. And you know how impatient she is. Do I even _want_ to know what you did to Laric?"

Fred and George just waved a hand each at him as they hurried on through the room, without answering his question. Harry looked at Fionn and rolled his eyes. The Fae's golden eyes were shining with silent laughter and he settled himself back more comfortably against Harry's side. Harry put his arm around Fionn and had just opened his mouth to speak when Laric entered the room.

The Storm Demon was drenched. There was no other way to describe it. His braids were dripping water into his face and down his back, his shirt was plastered to his skin, and his boots _squelched_ with every step he took. It looked like he had jumped in a lake with all his clothes on. And by the expression on his face, he hadn't gone swimming by choice.

Harry's eyes went wide and he stared in silence a moment. "Uh..."

Laric swept the room with his eyes, and then he nodded to himself. "If they wish to have a war, they picked the wrong target." His words were soft, but Harry could hear the slight thread of amusement behind them. With a polite nod to Fionn and Harry, Laric turned and walked out of the room again.

"I think... the twins are in for a surprise." Harry snickered and Fionn nodded in agreement.

When everyone had finally assembled in the sitting room, Ash began to speak excitedly, her hands waving around as she talked. "So! The Freedom Festival is coming up! It's a yearly festival, and it lasts for 7 days and nights. The entire Realm celebrates, and people come from all over for games, food, shopping and other things. It's a lot of fun! Though you two," she pointed at Fred and George, "will need to exchange claiming studs before then. Otherwise you'll have a lot of people trying to split you up and Court only one of you. Some will try for both of you of course, but it'll be easier on you if they know you're already in a mateship."

"What exactly is the Freedom Festival? I mean, what is it in celebration of?" Harry asked.

"It's supposed to mark the date when the Realm was finished and first inhabitable. So basically it's a celebration of our getting our own Realm away from Wizards and Muggles. There will be lots of stuff to see and do, and fireworks shows almost every night. Since we're in one of the larger cities, a lot of people travel here to celebrate. Which means it will be very crowded, and you three will need to work on your control so your elements don't get out of hand." Ash looked at Harry, Fred and George seriously for a moment. When they nodded, she continued. "The first day, not a lot happens because people are still arriving and setting things up. But there will be a parade, and booths get set up along all the main streets. You'll most likely run into some of the races you haven't seen much of during the Festival, and there will be a great deal more people around then you're used to. I can hardly wait!"

Harry just shook his head. Huge groups of people and partying all day and night? Yeah, that sounded like an Ash version of _fun._ But it didn't sound all that fun to _him._ But at least here he wasn't the Boy-Who-Lived, he might able to be just Harry during the Festival. So far, he'd just been treated like a mostly normal Demon, except for the whole brand incident and such. It was a nice change, though he did have to wonder, if Fred and George had to exchange claiming studs before the Festival, what about Fionn and him? They weren't mated yet, would people try to separate them? His arm tightened around Fionn at the thought. It had been weird when he first was told about Courting, and weirder still when he entered into it with Fionn. But now that he had gotten to know him better, and the brand was gone so the Courtship Magics were working, he couldn't imagine not having the Fae in his life. The thought of someone trying to take Fionn from him made him angry.

Fionn turned to face Harry, with Harry's arm still wrapped around his waist. He reached out and touched Harry's cheek lightly to get his attention, then kissed him. "No one will take me away. We just tell people we're Courting, and most will back off." His voice was soft, the others most likely didn't even hear him since Fred and George were asking Ash more questions and she was happily rattling off answers about the Festival. Harry blushed faintly and nodded. "Sorry, I-"

"It's okay." Fionn smiled and kissed Harry again gently before turning back around to face the others once more.

"So you have about two weeks to learn to control your Demon Magics before the Festival begins. Which means we'll be working you every day just to be sure there are less likely to be accidents during the Festival." Ash grinned. "So off to bed with you! More working in the morning for all of you! Well, except Fionn." She laughed and bounced to her feet before skipping from the room humming to herself.


	24. Healing Words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mentions of past abuse in this chapter.
> 
> Also, Fi is pronounced "Fee", as in "Fee, fi, fo fum".

Harry lay sprawled across the bed on his stomach, too tired to want to even _think_ about moving. He had just gotten out of the shower after yet another training session with Ash. Fire was coming more easily to his call, and he could mostly douse it on command now, but some of the other things Ash thought he needed to know were just... _weird._ Why did he have to know how to call a ring of Fire on the ground? Or making his wings covered in Fire, reminding him of Phoenix flames? Today she had him concentrating on making gauntlets of Fire. And when he asked her why he'd need to be able to do any of these strange things, she would either just smile secretly at him, or tell him flat out that she wasn't going to tell him until later. Because he might be tempted to do something stupid.

His hair was dripping onto the pillow, and he hadn't bothered to get clothes before getting into the shower. So he was still wearing a towel around his waist. But he couldn't muster up the energy to care, maybe he'd just take a nap... Fred and George were out getting their claiming studs put in, and then they had a training session with Laric and Gideon. So neither one would be popping in to bug him anytime soon. As his eyes fell shut, he thought he heard the bedroom door open and then close again, but it was so quiet he wasn't sure. And then the bed dipped as someone settled down next to his hip.

A feather-light touch on his bare back made Harry open his eyes. Fionn glanced at his face and smiled shyly before looking back at the expanse of exposed skin before him. Harry felt a brief flash of hesitance along their bond, and then his eyes fluttered shut as Fionn's hands skimmed along his back, from his waist to his neck. The Fae lightly dragged his nails down Harry's spine, raising gooseflesh. And then he began to knead along Harry's shoulders and neck.

It felt incredible. He had known Fionn had talented hands, but he had no idea the Fae was so good at giving massages. Harry felt himself melting into the bed, his muscles warming and turning to goo. Places he hadn't even _realized_ were tense from his training session relaxed and he let his mind drift. He couldn't help the occasional moan when Fionn found and removed a knot, and then, after what felt like hours but was probably a _lot_ less, the hands were removed from his back. 

"That... was _wonderful._ How do you always know what I need? Even when I don't even know?"

Fionn licked his lips and ducked his head shyly. "You liked it then?"

Harry turned over onto his side, and then dragged Fionn down onto the bed beside him. "I loved it. Thank you." Gently claiming the Fae's lips, he drew back after a moment. "Fi? What were you like... before? You don't have to answer, it's just... sometimes you seem like two different people." Harry paused, he knew what he wanted to say, he just didn't know how to phrase it. He was grateful the Courtship Bond was working now, there were so many little things that he hadn't realized the Fae needed before, and that he could now feel through their bond. But at the same time, now he could _feel_ how Fionn struggled with himself daily.

Fionn tensed in his arms, and turned his face away before forcing himself to relax against Harry again. "Does it matter? I can't be that person anymore. I'm not strong enough, I can't remember how." His voice was whisper-soft. "You deserve so much more than I can give you. But I'm not strong enough to let you go either." A single tear trickled down his cheek and fell to the comforter below them.

Harry pulled Fionn closer, rested the Fae's head over his heart the way he woke up to him most mornings, and carded his fingers through the white-blonde locks. "You're wrong you know? You are one of the strongest people I know. I don't know what happened to you, but it must have been bad, judging from how you acted when I first brought you here. But you've come so far in only a few months. You refused to talk to a Mind-Healer, and while I don't blame you, I just thought... it might help to talk to someone. I didn't mean to upset you." He pressed a kiss to the top of Fionn's head.

Fionn's body still held a trace of tension, Harry could feel it in the way the Fae wasn't sinking into him the way he usually did. He could also almost _see_ the struggle of emotions going through Fionn's head. He couldn't read anything off the bond besides a tangled mess, and he didn't want to focus to hard and make Fionn feel like he was trying to force the issue. So he just lay there and played with the Fae's hair in silence, waiting to see what decision was being made.

Finally Fionn spoke, his voice was still soft, but it sounded like he had bled all the emotion out of it. "I was with him for two years. Two years where he trained me to act how and when he wished me to. First he made me ask for permission for everything. Anything. Then later when he started to grow bored, I wasn't allowed to speak at all." His eyes were closed, voice distant as though he was reading from a book, or telling a story that was so far removed from reality that it didn't matter. "If I wasn't perfect the first time, and every time, he would hit me. Sometimes it was just with his hand. But as he grew bored of me, he would use... other things." His body gave a slight shudder. "His skin was blue. Sometimes he would entertain himself by trying to make my skin the same color. I never went out, was never allowed beyond the inner most rooms in his home. For most of those two years, I didn't even get to see the sun..." His voice wavered on the last word, and finally stopped. He was all-over tense again, as though he was waiting for a blow.

It made Harry's heart hurt, and tears trembled on the ends of his lashes. Pulling Fionn even closer he held the trembling form against him and ran soothing hands along the Fae's spine, the silk of the dress shirt Fionn always wore was cold and soft beneath his finger tips. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Fi. But you're free now. You have me and Ash, and the twins, and none of us would ever, _ever_ let anything happen to you like that again. Merlin. Can you picture what Fred and George would do if anyone even _looked_ at you wrong? You're already part of the family."

A watery laugh was his only response for a moment, even if it was weak-sounding, Harry was relieved. "You don't think I'm too damaged then? You won't break the Courtship now that you know?"

"Oh Fi..." Harry rolled them over, so Fionn was beneath him and he could look into those golden eyes. "I can't think of a single thing that would make me break the Courtship. Not now that I know you, and don't have that bloody brand suppressing me." He gently wiped the tears from Fionn's eyes, before leaning down and kissing him. Fionn melted into the kiss, wrapping both his arms around Harry's neck as the tension finally bled out of him. 

Harry had meant it to be a gentle kiss, one that showed how much he cared about the Fae. But Fionn didn't seem to have the same idea. The Fae pulled him down until there was scarcely any space between them, deepening the kiss as he did so. Harry could feel Fionn doing something behind his head, but couldn't figure out what until the Fae slid his arms down and started unbuttoning the front of his dress shirt. Harry pulled back, his eyes widening slightly as he saw that the cuffs had already been undone. As each button slid out of the hole, and more golden skin appeared, Harry's mouth went dry. It took him a long moment before he was able to drag his eyes back up to Fionn's face.

The Fae's golden eyes glinted with silent laughter, and after the final button was undone, he raised his right hand to caress Harry's face. "Some people may think we're going fast, with the Courtship happening so soon. But, I love you Harry. Even though we've only known each other a few months, I know that in here." He lightly touched the skin over his own heart.

Harry could feel the prickle of tears in the back of his eyes again. He could _feel_ the sincerity of Fionn's words. And while he was still completely inexperienced when it came to this sort of thing, he did know one thing. What he felt for the Fae, and what he was feeling from Fionn right that second, were too similar for him to not be able to tell what it was. "I love you too Fi."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry it took so long to get this written and posted! Work is still made of evil things, and we've been getting a lot of bad thunderstorms here as well.
> 
> Also, I'm not comfortable writing lemons. Therefore you get none, and I will leave to your imagination what happened after the chapter ended. *grins*


	25. Truth

Laric had looked entirely too smug when he dropped Fred and George back at Ash's house. The twins had matching claiming studs, in the same spot and with as little to distinguish them as Fred and George themselves did. So essentially, there was still no visual clue as to which twin was which. And Harry was sure that had been the plan. But he didn't have much time to do more than get a glimpse, as they had hurried off and hid in their room. Which was _quite_ unlike them, not even a word had been spoken on their way past.

After half an hour had gone by, and there was still no sign of either twin, Harry finally decided to go see what they were up to. He just hoped he would still look like himself afterwards. He knocked on the door, and heard sounds like people were moving around on the other side. But Fred and George remained silent, the door didn't open either. Getting a little more worried, Harry tried the knob, a little surprised when it actually twisted and the door opened. He saw the twin's faces as they looked at each other, they looked slightly ...well, he'd say _horrified_ if it was anyone else..?

"I thought you locked the door!"

" _Me?!_ You were the last one in! You were supposed to lock it!"

"Uh, guys? Are you two all right?" Harry had moved only a step or two into the room, the door still open behind him.

"We're fine. Just waiting for the tru-mmph!" George clapped a hand across Fred's mouth before Harry was able to hear just _what_ they were waiting on.

"No problems here Harry! At least, no problems if you leave right now." George's grin was a bit forced, and Fred nodded vigorously, George's hand still firmly on his mouth.

Harry took a hasty step backwards, now he was standing in the doorway, but not quite out of the room. As he went to turn, he felt an arm slide around his waist and Fionn rested his chin on Harry's shoulder. Harry rested his left hand on the arm around his waist, lacing their fingers together without conscious thought.

"Ash won't like it if you blow up the bedroom again. She said she'd make you two sleep in the backyard if you did it again." Fionn's voice was amused, but the twins only looked more panicked as they realized there was another person there.

"We're not working on anything! Don't call her in here!"

"Yeah, it's all Laric's fault! He had to go and use a stupid spell Gideon taught him!" Fred clapped a hand across his own mouth this time and looked at George who now had a hand covering his eyes.

"Laric used a spell on you? What exactly does this spell _do?_ " Harry couldn't help the laugh as he asked, and slid back into the room. Closing the door behind himself and Fionn, before leaning against it with the Fae tucked into his side.

Fred and George exchanged a look, before their shoulders drooped and they both sighed. "It's a truth spell."

"We have to answer whatever we're asked, truthfully."

"And he didn't say how long it lasted!" Fred looked aggrieved, flopping down onto the foot of the bed.

Harry's shoulders shook as he tried to muffle his snickers. It didn't work all that well. "This is what you get for pulling pranks on your Guide. I _knew_ Laric had something in mind to get you two back, but this is going to be epic."

"But Har-ry... He's so formal and...and _stiff!_ We were just trying to loosen him up a bit." The whiny tone in Fred's voice sounded more appropriate for a toddler.

"Yeah, and when he's not being all old-school and formal-ish, he's quiet and just gives us these _looks._ " George chimed in. 

"At least you didn't kiss him, if this is his revenge for being drenched, just think what he would have done if either of you had!" Harry's eyes gleamed with mischief.

Fred snorted. "No thank you. I doubt kissing Laric would have been half as fun as kissing you was." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Fred's face drained of color and he slapped both hands over his mouth. If Harry had thought Fred looked horrified _before_ , it was nothing to how he looked _now._

It was like they were in a cheesy horror film. Fred turned towards George who had been about to speak, but now was just staring with his mouth open at Fred. Harry turned towards Fionn, but it felt like he was trying to move through a _Petrificus Totalus_ spell. Everything felt like it was in slow-motion. As his eyes finally met Fionn's, he saw the flash of hurt that was just as quickly hidden in the golden depths.

"You _kissed Harry?!_ When did _this_ happen?" George had found his voice first, and it sounded almost as hurt as what Harry had seen on Fionn's face.

"I didn't mean it George! Okay, well I _did_ , but it wasn't like that! It was that night after the tour when we first got here. And you had been helping Fionn, so I figured it was my job to help Harry-"

"And _kissing him_ is how you decided to help?!"

"Yes! I mean, no! He was all twisted up about not knowing if he liked guys, and not having anything to compare Fionn's kiss to. So..." Fred squirmed a bit. "I thought if he had another frame of reference, it might help. I mean, you and I both know they're perfect for each other. And it's not like I did it to cheat. I'd _never_ cheat on you." Fred reached out a tentative hand, and when George didn't move, he pulled him down beside him on the bed. "It was totally a one-time thing. Really, never happened again. And it never _will_. Not unless we _all_ decide on this mateship stuff." One side of his mouth quirked up in a half-smile, trying to get George to relax, forgive him, something.

George finally sighed and tilted forward a bit, resting his face in the crook of Fred's neck and shoulder. "Sometimes I seriously think I got all the brains in the womb."

"Hey!"

"How else can you explain your total lack of thought? You could have made things _worse_ between them. Merlin, you still could have!" George suddenly jerked upright and looked towards where Harry and Fionn were still standing frozen beside the bedroom door.

"Fi?" Harry hadn't taken his eyes off Fionn during the entire time the twins had been yelling at each other. The shuttered expression on the Fae's face worried him. Reaching out, he lightly touched Fionn's cheek, who's eyes immediately came back into focus on him.

"You kissed Fred?" Fionn's voice was soft, with no hint of what he was feeling.

"It was more like he kissed _me_ , really. I wasn't expecting it. And... it _did_ help. I mean, it was before the brand came off, when I still had no clue what I was supposed to be doing..."

Fionn looked at Harry in silence for a moment, before nodding slightly.

"I think it would have taken a lot longer to realize that I liked guys if he hadn't. But, I would never have hurt you, never kiss anyone while we were Courting on purpose."

Fionn looked past Harry, towards Fred and George for a moment and then back to Harry before finally relaxing a little bit. "I know. It was just, surprising hearing that you had..."

Harry leaned forward and gently kissed Fionn. "Never again. Only you, unless we're Courting someone else. Promise."

"Harry..." George's voice was soft, but curious too.

"Hmmm?"

"Does that mean your Courtship is over? It kind of sounds that way." George was grinning at them now, and had resumed his position in Fred's arms.

Harry flushed a light pink, but nodded as he pulled Fionn closer to himself. "I--yeah. I think so." He looked at Fionn who looked back at him with shining golden eyes. "Guess we'll have to be making our _own_ Healer's appointment before the Festival now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there will most likely be re-visiting of the kissing issue later in the fic. But at least they all know about it now? *laughs*
> 
> Also, any ideas you guys have about pranks that you would like to share would be welcome. I have a few more ideas, but I'm not sure how many will actually end up in the fic. And it's always better to have more than needed, yes?


	26. Claiming Studs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter beta'd by the ever wonderful Nicky Noodle.

Harry's wings twitched slightly with nervousness as he waited for Tristan to appear. He didn't really know what to expect, and he _certainly_ wasn't going to believe the twins' story of a large needle being shoved through his wing. He knew there had to be an easy, non-painful way of getting claiming studs put in. Otherwise no one would be willing to go through with it more than once. He still remembered Ron before the Hogwarts sorting, saying that Fred and George had told him he would have to wrestle a Troll to get sorted. Harry almost snorted, an 11-year-old having to wrestle a Troll in order to be allowed to learn magic? And Ron had fallen for it. He was a little surprised that the thought of Ron didn't hurt as much as he expected it to. But he refused to think about him right now.

Fionn was sitting on the edge of the examination table, a small smile on his face as he watched Harry. You could tell just by looking at the Fae that he was both ecstatic about getting the claiming studs, and still a little surprised that it was really going to happen.

Tristan finally entered the room, carrying a small wooden box with abstract designs carved all over it. He smiled at the two waiting on him and carefully placed the box onto the counter that ran along one side of the room.

"So many people are getting this done before the Festival! It's always a pleasure to see everyone so happy, instead of the usual reasons they make appointments. So, which of you is going first?"

Harry glanced at Fionn and then folded his wings back behind him, willing himself calm. He wanted this, he just hated not knowing what was going to happen. "I will."

"Then I'll need to see Fionn over here a moment." Tristan turned back to the box and lifted off the lid as Fionn hopped down from the examination table and approached him silently. The inside of the box was divided down the middle by a thin wooden partition. On one side were tiny earrings. Each one had a clear, square-shaped setting. On the other side, were larger oval-shaped studs. "Okay, this is the easy part. Put your hand in the side with the larger settings, one of them will feel 'right'. I can't really explain it, it's different for everyone. But once you've found the one that calls to you, pull it out and hold it in the palm of your dominant hand."

Fionn reached out with his left hand and trailed his fingers through the oval-shaped studs. He dug through them carefully, and turned a number of them over, rolling them through his fingers before he finally settled on one. Pulling it out, he cradled it in the palm of his hand and looked at Tristan to see what happened next.

"Good! Now all you have to do is think about your bond. Concentrate on how much Harry means to you, the things that you went through during your Courtship, and focus that on the stud in your hand. The stone will change to reflect your magic and soul as it soaks up the memories you give it. This is why no two claiming studs are ever the same, even if they bear the same colors, or are from identical twins."

Fionn's eyes closed and a tiny frown of concentration appeared on his face. Nothing seemed to happen for long moments, and then after a while, Harry could see the clear setting was changing. As he watched, the claiming stud turned white gold, the exact same shade as the Fae's hair. And small bright golden specs appeared, they seemed to shimmer and move, dancing across the face of the stone. It was beautiful, and matched Fionn perfectly.

Tristan plucked the stud from the palm of Fionn's hand and held it up so Harry could see it better. In the very center, there was a delicate FO engraved in gold. Fionn's initials, though Harry still wasn't exactly sure why initials were needed. It wasn't like he would ever forget that that particular stud was Fionn. Harry was so lost in thought, he hadn't noticed when Tristan pulled out something else from a slot in the lid of the box. But as the Healer approached him, he focused again. It was a needle. A _big_ needle. Harry's eyes went wide, the twins had been telling the _truth_?!

"Don't get upset, you won't feel a thing. I promise! We can't put the claiming studs in magically, as it interferes with the magic in the stud itself. But the needle is spelled so you won't feel anything more than a little bit of pressure. Nothing to worry about. Now take a deep breath and calm down. Then I need you to extend your right wing for me, that's it. Hold it just like that, you can close your eyes if it makes you feel better." Tristan kept up a soft murmur of words, but Harry wasn't listening, he was looking at Fionn and was determined to keep looking at the Fae until it was all over with. 

He felt the Healer grasp the top edge of his wing, about halfway down the length, and something settled against the skin that was cold and smooth. He felt what he assumed was the needle, start to push, but Tristan was right. He didn't feel any pain, and then there was a _pop!_ and the pressure was gone. Something else was now being pushed into the hole, and his wing was maneuvered around a bit, and then the Healer was releasing him and standing back with a smile. Harry looked over and saw the claiming stud gleaming from it's new home in the top edge of his wing, and all he could feel was happiness. 

"The pain relieving spell will wear off in about an hour, but you shouldn't feel more than a slight soreness. Remember to twist the stud around at least once a day until the hole heals, or it will get stuck to the skin as the wound heals. And keep it clean. If it does more than sting, come right back here so we can check for infection." Tristan waited to be sure Harry was listening. "All right, you saw how it worked, so go pick out one for Fionn."

Harry jumped off the examination table and approached the box. Putting the fingers of his right hand into the smaller side, he dug around wondering what he was supposed to be feeling. They all felt exactly the same...and then he felt it. One of the earrings was hot, much hotter than it should be for just laying there in a wooden box. He pulled it out and looked at it, it looked exactly like all the rest, but he could tell that this was the one. 

Holding it in his palm, he closed his eyes and thought about the Fae. From the first time he had seen him, to how much he had come out of his shell. And the look in his eyes today, when the stud was being put into Harry's wing. As he slowly opened his eyes, he was surprised at the change that had taken over the earring. He had expected it, after seeing what happened to his own stud, but it was still amazing to him. Instead of a clear stone, it was now a dark charcoal. The color of dark, dense smoke. It swirled around like a living thing, and glowing from the inside was a red ember of fire. The fire pulsed and sparked as the smoke moved.

Even as Harry stared mesmerized, Tristan was plucking it from his hand and motioning for Fionn to approach. The needle used this time was _much_ smaller. Tristan gently pulled on Fionn's right earlobe, and the hole was quickly made, and just as quickly filled with the claiming stud. It was now official to everyone, Harry and Fionn were a mated pair. None would now dare to take either of them from the other.

Fionn's eyes were shining in happiness, and Harry could feel his own lips curling up into a smile. Had anyone told him before his birthday, that he would be living in another Realm, and for all intents and purposes, _married_ to another guy, who wasn't even the same _species_ , he would have sent them straight to St. Mungo's. But he couldn't imagine not having Fionn in his life now, and with all the strange creatures, the Realm was starting to feel like home. More like any home than he had ever had, even Hogwarts.

"Thank you Tristan. Come on Fi, let's go home."


	27. Bill and Charlie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Delayed longer than I like, I blame Charlie entirely. For some reason he didn't want to cooperate. *lol*

Bill Weasley was half-sitting on the edge of the wooden table in the middle of the room. His left thigh was hitched up on the top of the table, foot dangling down into space, while he used his right leg to brace himself. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt and well-worn dark blue jeans with tall dragon hide boots. He was tall and thin, his hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail that was darker than most of his family, and the fang earring glinted as he turned to see the group coming through the door.

Charlie whirled around to face them, his face a mix of worried frustration that quickly died away when he saw no immediate cause for alarm. It looked as though he had been pacing the room before they arrived. He wore dragon hide pants and boots with a dark blue t-shirt, the dragon hide looked worn and had a few scorch marks here and there. He was shorter and stocky, built along the same lines as Fred and George, though his hair was a brighter shade of red.

Once they were all in the room, Ash flicked her fingers a few times and muttered softly under her breath. Harry could feel wards spring to life, covering the entire room. When she was done, she leaned against the wall near the door and started cleaning under her nails.

"It's good to see you again Harry. Though I'm still not sure why we're all here, the twins were fairly cryptic in the note they sent us. Mum's been having a fit, certain something happened to you two." Bill looked at Fred and George as he said the last bit. He seemed to ignore the wards that had gone up, but Harry could tell that the eldest Weasley son had noticed and filed it away for later.

"Well you see Bill,"

"Harrykins has gone and gotten himself into typical Harry mischief."

"And he managed to drag us into it as well."

"Had to leave the flat and the shop, too many noses poking into things they had no right to."

Bill rubbed his forehead and held up a hand, stopping Fred and George. "Enough you two. I have enough of a headache from dealing with mum and Ron." Dropping his hand, he looked at Harry and quirked his lips into a small smile. "Care to explain what's going on then? Please? Dealing with them on a _good_ day is next to impossible. And today hasn't been what I'd call 'good.'"

"Oi!"

"Hey!"

Harry just laughed and moved forward to take a seat, Fionn ghosting along beside him. "This may take a while..."

****

~***~

"I can't believe..." Charlie shook his head. "Rather, I _can_ believe it, it's one of the reasons Bill and I chose to move so far away from the family. She's always been a bit of a control-freak. It's just hard to take in, about your own mum and all..."

"And Ron's always been a bit of a prat, but I never would have thought he'd do something like this. The rest of us grew up knowing right from wrong, even Perce..." Bill trailed off. "We didn't know anything about this Harry. If we had you can be sure we would have said something to you."

Charlie nodded, his face grim. "Any idea if dad or Gin were in on it? I can't believe dad would be, but I don't know how mum would get it all past him if he wasn't."

"I've no idea. I know Molly and Ron for sure, they had vaults set up with the stolen money. But I haven't talked to the rest of your family yet. I'd hate to think Arthur or Ginny was in on it, but I won't know for sure until I can talk to them alone." Fionn tucked himself under Harry's left arm, ignoring the uncomfortableness of the chair arms between them, and Charlie grinned.

"So, who are your friends Harry? Now that we've gotten past the bad news, at least for now. Aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Oh, uh... That's another long story..." Harry glanced at Fionn and Ash, and then studied the two eldest Weasley brothers. He was glad they hadn't been in on Dumbledore's plans, and he did trust them to an extent. But could he trust them with the rest of the mess? Fred and George were now smack in the middle of it as well, and he didn't want to divide up the good Weasley's if he didn't have to. And that's what secrets did, they divided people. Even the good secrets could open up vast distances, and he wasn't sure if this qualified as a _good_ or a _bad_ secret. He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to work through all the ramifications.

"All right." Harry sighed and then continued. "Let me get all the pertinent details out, and then you can ask questions. It's a bit hard to take in at first, at least it was for me!" He waited for Bill and Charlie to nod and then closed his eyes a moment as he figured out how to start. "So on my 16th birthday, I came into a creature inheritance. I had no idea, I passed out, and when I woke up Ash was there." He waved his hand in Ash's direction. "She about scared the life out of me as she was literally two inches in front of my face." Ignoring the snickers from Ash and the twins, Harry focused on Bill and Charlie.

"She told me I had turned into a Fire Demon, and that she was to be my Guide. After we left the Dursley's, she took me to The Realm, which is apparently where most Demons and other creatures live. I met Fionn there my first day. Found out that my life was even more screwed up, I had a brand on me that suppressed my Demon powers, and was tied in with a soul component as well. When we were able to get that taken care of... there was a spell malfunction of some kind. We're still not entirely sure what happened, but, uh... FredandGeorgearenowWaterDemons." He said the last part so fast, it took a moment for Bill and Charlie to process it, and they still didn't look like they thought they had heard him right.

"Sorry, what was that last? I could have sworn you just said that Fred and George had been turned into Demons." Bill leaned forward a little from his seat on the table.

Harry blushed and looked at the floor. "Fred and George are Water Demons. It was some kind of magical backlash, but we still don't quite know _how_. They were behind shields that were supposed to keep out any magic raised in the room, but somehow they were still hit with enough of the power to completely change their species. If they hadn't had their inheritance yet, it could be blamed on that, if of course you had Demon in your family line, but since they're over the age of inheritance, no one seems to know how it happened." He glanced up and was slightly reassured that Bill and Charlie didn't look angry, they just looked confused. And that was of course, when Ash decided to 'help'. Harry, Fred and George popped up out of their chairs as the glamors fell and their wings weren't neatly tucked away into not-space anymore. Which of course meant that they couldn't sit, as the chairs weren't made for winged creatures.

Harry shot a glare her direction, but she was back to pretending to ignore the room. "Ash is an Air Demon, and tends to have a rather twisted sense of humor, as well as no tact or sense most of the time." Ash blew a raspberry in Harry's direction and then smirked.

"Saves time trying to explain, humans tend to go for the 'seeing is believing' thing and all that."

"Okay... So if you were all under glamor, what about him?" Bill motioned towards Fionn, as Charlie was already up and examining George's wings with fascination. George looked put-upon as Fred snickered and moved out of reach.

"Fionn is a Golden Fae, he's not a Demon so he doesn't have wings. His talent is illusion." A swarm of translucent golden butterflies appeared from nowhere, and flew around the room a few times before fading back to nothing again.

"And the war? If you're a Demon now, and have somewhere to escape to, are you still going to fight? I wouldn't blame you for leaving, our side hasn't really done right by you up to now." Bill was standing now, having come forward a bit to get a better look, without crowding like Charlie was still doing to George.

"I'm not running away Bill. I am living in the Realm now, and building a life there." Harry glanced at Fionn and smiled. "But I won't abandon the Wizarding World to Voldemort. Regardless of what Dumbledore and the rest have done to me personally, there are hundreds of innocent people who will die if I don't fight. So fight I will, once I've gotten more training. Fighting now would only get myself killed, I don't know anywhere near enough."

"Charlie!" Bill smacked the back of his brother's head. "Leave George alone before he turns you into a test subject. Again." Turning back to Harry, Bill gave a short nod. "Glad to hear it. Especially the part about getting training. Let me know if I can be of any assistance, I'll do whatever you need of me if I can."


	28. Where's Ash?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as usual go to my wonderful beta, Nicky Noodle.

Harry woke slowly as usual, and stretched before snuggling back down into the warmth of the bed and Fionn. The Fae's hair was soft as it tickled his nose. Cracking open one eye, he glanced out the window trying to guess how early it was. No one had woken them, so it had to be fairly early. But the light that came through the window spoke of it being later than he thought. Harry slid out from under the covers, trying not to wake Fionn yet. The Fae immediately rolled into the warm spot Harry's body had made, and snuggled up to Harry's pillow. After Harry had showered and dressed, he sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over to kiss Fionn awake.

"Morning sleepy-head. I'm going to go fix breakfast while you get ready. No idea why Ash hasn't bounced in here yet yelling about the Festival starting today, but maybe the twins locked her in her room again..."

Fionn laughed and pulled Harry down for another kiss. "I'm not sure that would stop her today, she was far too excited."

"Mmm. True." Harry pulled away reluctantly, and headed into the kitchen to make breakfast. As he passed the door to Fred and George's room, he couldn't hear anything, but recognized the feel of a silencing charm and shook his head. Ash's end of the hall was strangely silent, but maybe she had gone off to find the best place to start when she took them to the Festival?

By the time he had finished making eggs, bacon, toast, and fried potatoes, Fionn had appeared and set the table. But there was still no sign of Ash. Putting the food on the table, Harry headed back to the bedrooms and banged on Fred and George's door. After a moment Fred poked his head out.

"Harry! Great to see you! Ash isn't with you, is she?" Fred tried to peer around Harry to see if Ash was hiding just out of his line of sight.

"No. And I don't want to know what you two are doing. Breakfast is ready." Harry shook his head and walked down to Ash's door.

It was still eerily silent, he'd never known Ash to use a silencing charm on her room, or to not have barged in on any of them at way-too-early in the morning. Knocking on her door, he waited a few moments but there was no response. He put his hand on the doorknob and paused. He'd never actually been inside Ash's room, and it felt odd to be going in without her permission. But he couldn't shake the feeling that something was _wrong._ Slowly turning the knob, he eased the door open and peeked inside. Her room was done in blue and white like most of the rest of the house, but the walls and ceiling were covered in a mural that made it look like the room was open to the summer sky. Clouds were painted in random patterns, and birds appeared here and there. After a moment, Harry realized that the mural must be magicked because the clouds were actually _moving_ and the birds were _flying_.

Tearing his eyes away from the scenes, he looked to see if she was still in bed. And that's when his worry returned. The bed, and dresser next to it, looked as though Ash had been in a hurry the last time she was there. One pillow had landed on the floor, and the covers were only halfway pulled up on the bed. The dresser had a few drawers open and things spilled out over the edges and across the top. Though knowing Ash, it was also possible that this was completely normal for her, not having seen her room before he just didn't know. Closing the door again he walked back into the kitchen lost in thought. Ash would have left a note, or sent a message if something had called her away. Wouldn't she?

"Where's Ash?" George looked up from his plate.

"Yeah, if she doesn't hurry up, there won't be any food left!" Fred grinned and snatched another piece of bacon off the platter.

"I'm not sure. She wasn't in her room, but as excited as she was about the Festival, maybe she went on ahead?" Harry sat down and realized that someone had filled his plate for him. Smiling at Fionn, he began to eat before Fred or George decided to steal his breakfast.

When everyone had eaten, and the dishes had been done, Ash still hadn't appeared. It was nearing 11am, and they had been hearing all kinds of interesting noises from outside for over an hour.

"I say we go to the Festival and see if we run into Ash there." Fred grinned.

"Yeah, I bet she got distracted and lost all sense of time and will be happy to see us." George chimed in.

Harry frowned and tapped his fingers on the table a moment. He knew it wasn't the best idea to go roaming around without Ash, Gideon or Laric. There were too many strangers here for the Festival, and they hadn't completed their training... On the other hand, it _would_ be just like Ash to have taken off early that morning, and then promptly forgotten to come back for them. And he was just as curious as Fred and George were about the Festival.

"All right..."

"Yes!"

"But you have to stay with us, you know the rules Ash gave us about going anywhere without her." Harry tried to make his voice stern, so Fred and George would listen and not just run off on him. "And if we haven't found her by 1pm, we come back here to see if she's returned."

Fred and George looked at each other and then nodded. "Fine. But let's go!"

They stepped out the front door and stared in silence a moment at the sight of the crowd rushing past. Sure there were usually a lot of people in this area of The Realm, but this was insane. People of all ages and heights rushed by laughing and yelling to one another. Harry held tight to Fionn, and grabbed George's hand as well as they joined the throng. When they finally spilled out into the main square, the noise was almost deafening. People yelling to friends and family, vendors hawking their wares, musicians all over playing and singing... Harry steered them to a low wall, he thought it was the same spot Ash usually appeared in when they all traveled by Air.

Standing on top of the wall, he peered around trying to catch a glimpse of Ash or anyone else they knew. But there were just too many people. Fae skipped through the crowd, arms linked around each other. Succubi and Incubi lounged in the grass, or haggled with vendors. Gargoyles and Demons and Djinn, and people Harry couldn't name were all out and having fun. He saw a group of blue-skinned Djinn with a clear space around them, most likely due to the creature one had on a golden leash. It looked like a panther, but had no visible ears, and too many fangs, all of which were longer than a normal feline. Harry couldn't tell from here, but it didn't appear as if it had fur either, he made a mental note to go in a different direction.

"No sign of Ash or any of the Warriors we know. But there are so many people here, I could have been looking right at them and not realized." Harry said as he hopped back down off the wall. "I guess we'll just have to keep an eye out, but everyone stay close. I don't know how we'll find each other if we get separated. And remember, if we _do_ get separated, meet back at the house by 1pm."

The Festival was noisy and crowded, but it was also a lot of fun. They listened to various musicians, bought snacks at a few different vendors, and even saw a few skits and sleight of hand. Before they knew it, it was time to go back to Ash's house. But even before Harry had searched the house, he knew Ash hadn't been there. That sinking feeling he had gotten this morning was back again, but worse. What could have happened? She'd been looking forward to dragging them all around the Festival for weeks now.

"She's still not here..." The others were now starting to look as worried as Harry felt. "I don't understand. She's never just left us before, and without saying anything?"

"Remember, she said if anything happened we were supposed to go to Pepper?" Fionn spoke softly. "Do you think we should see if Pepper can find her?"

"Yeah. Maybe she knows how to track her down." Harry nodded, and led them off again.

It was slightly quieter around Pepper's place, but there were still more people around that normal. Harry glanced at Fionn to see how he was doing, coming back to the place he had been sold to, but the Fae just looked as worried as Harry felt. An Incubi with hot pink hair and brown eyes approached them smiling.

"Welcome! Is this your first time here?"

"Ah, actually we're looking for Pepper. Could you tell us where she is?" Harry smiled a little nervously, he really did _not_ want to be mistaken for a patron. All he wanted was for Ash to appear and tell them she had been pranking them or something.

The Incubi pouted and turned towards Fred and George. " _All_ of you are looking for Pepper? I couldn't get any of you to change your minds?" He reached out with one hand and started to lay it on George's arm, but just before it touched him a low growl was heard. The Incubi froze and looked up into Fred's unamused face. "Right. Pepper! Uh, she's not actually here right now. She was called away a while ago, said something about having to settle a dispute." Having put both his hands behind his back when Fred growled, the Incubi now reminded Harry of nothing so much as a naughty child trying to talk his way out of being punished. "You're welcome to wait for her if you'd like? But I don't know when she'll be back..."

Harry sighed, was no one where they were supposed to be today? "No thanks, we'll come back later." As he led the group off towards the entrance he wondered what they were going to do. Ash was missing, Pepper wasn't around, and he didn't think they'd have any better luck tracking down any of the Warriors. As he was trying to figure out what they should do next, he almost missed Pepper walking in the door.

"Harry? What brings you lot here? And where is Ash? She better not be causing any trouble, there's been more than enough of that for one day already."

"Pepper! You have no idea how happy we are to see you. Though I was sorta hoping you had some idea of where Ash was. She wasn't home when we got up this morning, and we haven't been able to find her. She didn't leave a note or anything either. She didn't say anything to you?"

"Calm down. Take a deep breath and let's go to my office. You can explain once we get there." Pepper nodded at a few people as she led them upstairs and down a hallway. The office was big enough to hold them all, if only just. "You said Ash is missing? You're sure she didn't leave a note or anything?"

"Nothing. I slept later than usual this morning without her there to wake us, but even after making breakfast she hadn't returned. So we went out and saw a bit of the Festival for a few hours and went back home. Ash still wasn't there. But Fionn remembered that Ash told us to come to you if anything ever happened to her. So we did..." Harry ran a hand through his hair, if Pepper had no idea where Ash was either, something must have happened. But what?

Pepper was slowly shaking her head. "I haven't talked to Ash in almost a week. I've been too busy getting everyone here ready for the Festival, and keep getting called away on Council business. But she didn't say anything to me about missing the Festival. Did you try to send her a message light?"

"I, ah, haven't actually learned how to do those yet. Ash said she would teach me, but hasn't actually gotten around to doing so." Harry blushed and looked away. 

"Typical Ash." Pepper sighed, but called up a message light. "Message for Ash Montgomery. Where are you? I swear if you've gone off to have one of your little 'adventures' and not bothered to let anyone know, I'll tell Harry and the others all about that time with the pixie, the marbles and the lake!" She flicked her fingers to send the message light off, but instead of shooting off to find Ash, the light bobbed in the air as though it didn't know where to go. After a moment, the light winked out. "Shit. That only happens if the person the message is for has invoked the spell to hide from them, or if they're dead. Since we haven't heard anything about her being captured, and she was with you last night, she must have gone into hiding." 

Pepper frowned and fiddled with a pencil on her desk, flipping it through her fingers and bouncing the eraser on the edge of the desk. "Who are your Guides?" She looked at Fred and George, pencil still flicking between her fingers.

"Gideon Reed and Laric Winters." Fred spoke with little of his usual mischievousness.

"Mmmm... Gideon will be nearly as busy with Festival duties as I am. I'm not familiar with Winters, he may be able to look after you while I track down Ash. In any event, until one of your Guides can take over watching out for you, the four of you can live at my place." Pepper dropped the pencil to the desk and stood up. She headed straight out the door and back the way they came, without looking to see if any of them were following her. Harry and the others scrambled to catch up, heads spinning a little with how fast everything was happening.

Pepper led them down a few side streets they hadn't explored yet, and walked for a ways before coming out into a slightly less crowded area of the city. All the buildings they could see were _old_ , and most of them practically screamed of wealth and power. The four stayed close to each other and right behind Pepper, they did not want to get lost here. Pepper opened a wrought iron gate, and led them down a tree-lined lane. The house they were headed for was huge, at least 5 stories tall, and looked big enough for at least 40 people to live there. It was made of pale cream stone, with reddish stone accents. Like most of the buildings they had seen so far, it had patterns etched into the stone, but they didn't have time to study them as Pepper didn't slow upon reaching the front door, she walked straight in.

"Saunders!"

A Fae with dark purple hair and purple eyes hurried into the entryway. His expensive-looking clothes made hardly a sound as he bowed. "Yes m'lady?"

"These four will be staying with us for at least a few days, is the Solaris suite available?"

"Yes m'lady."

"Wonderful. Please show them to their rooms and have one of the pages go with them if they need to pick up their things. I should be back by 6 for dinner." Pepper looked at Harry slightly apologetically. "I'm sorry, but there are many things I still need to do today. Dinner is at 6, one of the pages will come get you a little bit before then and show you to the dining room." And then she swept out of the house just as quickly as she had arrived, leaving Harry and the others with the Fae she had called Saunders.

"If you will follow me please?" He led them deeper into the house and up to the third floor before opening a door and bowing them in.

Fred whistled softly as he stared around in momentary awe, George hurried to look out the nearest window. Harry just stared, they were going to be living _here_ for a few days? The room appeared to be some kind of formal reception room, it was done all in golds and reds with thick carpet on the floor and tapestries hanging from the walls. Heavy wood furniture with brocade was scattered around the room, and a single door was in the left-hand wall. Moving towards it, Harry stepped into the next room cautiously. It was a bedroom, with a king sized bed, dressers and night stands. This room was done all in gold and copper. Two doors led out of the room, opening the first door he saw another bedroom, set up just like the one he was in, but done all in red and orange. The second door led into the largest bathroom he had ever seen. It had a sunken bathtub that could easily fit the four of them together, a separate 3-person shower, 3 sinks, and a toilet tucked away in it's own alcove. Backing out of the bathroom, he returned to the reception room.

"This place looks like a bloody palace!" Fred was grinning brightly, sprawled out on one of the couches.

"If you think this is good, you should see the bedrooms and bathroom." Harry shook his head as the twins bolted past him. "I remember Ash saying something about Pepper being high up in the Succubi ranks, but this is insane..."

"I hope Ash is okay." Fionn was rubbing his arms as though he was cold, though the room was the perfect temperature.

"Yeah, me too."


	29. Dinner With Pepper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse for the lateness of this chapter, other than to say that RL is obnoxious... *laughs* Chapter 30 has already been beta'd, and will be out within the week.
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta, Nicky Noodle.

Dinner was interesting to say the least. Harry had never thought to be in such opulent surroundings, he didn't know how he was supposed to act. And none of them had clothes anywhere near fancy enough for this... house? He wasn't sure if that was the right word, but palace wasn't quite right either.

A yellow-haired Incubus had led them from their rooms to the dining room. Harry had no idea how old he was, but he looked quite young. He was shorter than Harry, and had a high childish voice. After showing them to their seats, he was quickly gone again. The dining room was just as lavish as the rest of the house had been. Polished wood floors covered in thick throw rugs, tapestries hung from the walls, _three_ crystal chandeliers dangled from the ceiling over the long table. The table itself was covered in a white silky fabric with lace trim. The plates were edged in gold, as were the crystal goblets. Even the silverware was overwhelming, why on earth did anyone need to have 4 forks and 3 spoons? There were 2 different knives, and at least 3, no 4 glasses at each plate.

Harry tore his eyes away from the table, just looking at all the items laid on it was making him nervous. Fred and George didn't look like they understood it all any better than he did. He saw them pointing and whispering to each other before shrugging. Before Harry could work himself up any further, the doors at the end of the room opened and a crowd of people entered. Each one splitting off to the right or left side of the table with no seeming discussion. And then each one waited quietly, standing behind their chair, until Pepper had seated herself at the head of the table. Harry was seated about half-way down the table on Pepper's right, with Fionn to _his_ right and Fred and George across from them. He hurried to put his napkin in his lap as he saw the others doing, just as Pepper picked up the small fork farthest from her plate and lightly tapped one of the goblets in front of her. It made a soft, but carrying, ringing sound.

"Thank you. I know the Festival started today, and there is still much to be done. But please, keep the work talk to a minimum during dinner. If there is something very important that cannot wait until tomorrow, you may see me after dessert."

It appeared that everyone else at the table were Incubi or Succubi, or at least if any were Fae, they were seated too far away from Harry for him to be able to tell. A waiter appeared behind him and leaned over his right shoulder to set a bowl on top of the empty plate in front of Harry. A strange turquoise-colored broth was then ladled into the bowl. It seemed to shimmer slightly in the light, and the scent was almost peppery. The waiter filled one of the glasses in front of Harry with water and moved on. Harry glanced quickly at the Succubus sitting to his left, and then picked up the same spoon she was using, the one farthest away from his bowl. Taking a careful taste, he found that the soup was both spicy and cooler than he had expected. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't as hot as he was used to soup being. It was an altogether strange experience.

When all had finished the soup, the bowls and used spoons were whisked away again. A slightly smaller plate was placed in front of Harry, followed by some sort of fish. A spoonful of orange sauce was poured over the top, followed by a dash of something out of a shaker. Another of the glasses in front of Harry was filled, this time with a light golden colored wine, and the waiter had moved on. Copying the Succubus beside him once again, Harry picked up the fork farthest away from his plate and ate a bite. It tasted strongly of citrus, almost lemony but not quite. And light and flaky enough that even after eating it all, he didn't feel stuffed. He took a cautious sip of the wine, it went well with the fish but it wouldn't do to drink too much.

The next thing to be put in front of him was some kind of meat. He wasn't sure if it was beef, or some other creature. Whatever it was, it was sweet, the meat juicy and cooked to the perfect doneness. Yellow veggies of some kind were laid on the plate near the meat, and then something greenish and lumpy. A roll was put on a small plate above the main one, and herbed olive oil added to the side of that dish. And yet another of the glasses was filled, this time with a rich red wine. It was sweet, but in a different way from the meat. This one too Harry decided to leave mostly untouched.

A small plate was laid in front of him next, and 3 cheeses were placed upon it, followed by a few different kinds of crackers. Harry was beginning to wonder just how many courses there were going to be. He didn't wish to be rude, but he had never eaten a meal like this. At least all the portions were small? He did quite like the nutty-flavored cheese, he would have to ask Pepper later what kind it was.

A salad appeared next, with a small amount of dressing. Finally, or at least Harry _hoped_ it was finally, the dessert appeared. It was a small slice of some kind of chocolate mousse. The last and smallest glass was filled with a cherry-colored liquid. Harry didn't know what it was, and never having really drunk alcohol before, he decided not to even try this one. The last thing he wanted to do in front of all these fancy and possibly important people, was to get drunk and embarrass himself as well as Pepper. He was feeling quite full by this point, but the chocolate was absolutely wonderful and he found himself polishing off the last smear.

Soon all the plates were taken away, including the large one that seemed to have been used like a place mat more than a plate. Just when he thought the dinner would finally be over with, a waiter appeared again and placed a mug of coffee in front of him. Cream and sugar was offered, and stirred in by the waiter before finally moving on.

At long last, the dinner was over. People were leaving their seats and chatting to one another. Some left the room entirely, and others converged on Pepper talking in hushed but urgent sounding voices. As Harry looked around, wondering what they were supposed to do, the same yellow-haired Incubus that showed them to the dining room appeared again.

"Pepper asked that you be shown back to your rooms. She said she would be by as soon as she finished up here."

 

It was a few hours before a sharp rap came on the door to the reception room in their temporary quarters. Fred was the first one to the door, flinging it open grandly with a silly bow. Pepper ignored the theatrics and walked straight in.

"It's been a long day, and sure to be another long day tomorrow. At the moment I have no news on Ash, wherever she's gone, and for whatever the reason, we will just have to hope she can find a way out of things on her own. That isn't to say I have stopped looking." She held up a hand when it looked like Harry was going to speak. "I am still looking into things. However, _too_ much interest can be just as bad as none at all. You all did well tonight, but I can see you are not comfortable at all here. These formal dinners are the norm and not the exception I am afraid. I have spoken to Gideon, and he is almost as busy as I am. However, I have been informed that Laric Winters will be here in the morning to fetch you all. You will be staying with him until Ash can be found. You are welcome here of course, but I believe you will be more comfortable with him." Pepper looked at them a moment as if expecting a response.

"Thank you. You've gone to a lot of trouble for people you barely know--" Harry was cut off by a shake of Pepper's head.

"Not all that much trouble child. Rooms are kept ready all year long, we never know when they may be needed for visiting Council or other important people. And I would have looked into Ash going missing the moment I learned of it. But it is getting late, and I at least have a very early morning ahead of me. Good night children." She stood up and walked briskly from the room.


	30. Laric's House

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to my beta Nicky Noodle.

The next morning saw all four of them up early, they didn't know what the day would bring and it had made sleep hard for all of them. Fred and George took the first shower, then went into their room to finish getting ready. Harry thought it was a strange arrangement for the rooms. His and Fionn's bedroom being the only room that lead into the formal receiving room, and the bathroom and other bedroom attached to it. But not knowing what purpose these rooms were usually used for, maybe it made sense somehow?

He stepped into the shower and Fionn followed him. It was still occasionally odd, doing things like sharing a shower together. They were mated now, and obviously doing more than just _sleeping_ in bed together. But sometimes the little things still surprised him. He soaped up his hair, and then began to lather the rest of himself as Fionn finished his own hair and moved to wash Harry's back. They traded places and washed off without the lingering they might otherwise have done. Pepper hadn't said when Laric would arrive, and truthfully, being in such a rich place made him a little nervous. What if he broke something?

Entering their room again, Fionn pulled out clothes for himself and started dressing. Harry rummaged in the bag they'd brought from Ash's before dinner last night, and pulled out a pair of dark blue jeans. Pulling them on, he grabbed a faded-looking purple shirt and tossed it on the bed. His hair was still dripping down his shoulders and back, some of the water running down his chest. He'd need to dry it better before putting the shirt on, and he hated drying charms, they made his hair wilder than it already was. Wrapping a towel around his head and scrubbing at his hair with both hands, he tried to wring out as much water as he could.

Of course that would be the moment the door opened and Laric walked in. The Warrior came to an immediate halt, and his eyes widened slightly in surprise. He evidently hadn't expected a bedroom to be attached to the receiving room either. Harry froze a moment, looking up into ice blue eyes as another drop of water escaped and ran down his neck. A faint blush appeared on Laric's face and he hurried back the way he came, speaking quickly as he did so.

"I, ah, I'll just wait out here until you are ready..." The door shut firmly and they could hear footsteps moving quickly away from it.

Harry let the towel fall to the floor and covered his face with one hand. "Merlin."

"At least you were wearing trousers."

"Yeah, just think of the look on Laric's face if he had walked in before you'd had those on!" George and Fred started snickering.

Harry just shook his head, he hadn't heard them open their door but wasn't in the least surprised that they had managed to witness that. As he picked up his shirt, Fionn walked over and kissed him. He smiled softly at the Fae before pulling his shirt on and grabbing the bag of their clothes. Entering the receiving room, he saw Laric all the way across the room with his back to them. He appeared to be studying one of the tapestries.

"Er, we're ready?"

Laric turned around slowly, a faint red hue still visible across his cheekbones. He seemed relieved to see all of them fully dressed. "Miss Cambion informed us that Miss Montgomery was called away. As she and Gideon are both very busy with Council and Festival duties, it falls to me to watch over you all. My home isn't much, but you are welcome to what I have. Gather around please, we will travel by Storm as it is across the city from here and I am sure you will wish to see some of the Festival today." A slight smile crossed his lips as he said the last, he was teasing them!

Harry moved to stand to Laric's left, Fionn moved beside him and wrapped an arm around Harry's waist. Fred moved to stand beside Fionn, with George completing the circle to Laric's right. Harry wondered how traveling by Storm would differ from Air. He hoped the trip was as smooth as it was with Ash, and not like the Wizarding forms of travel he hated.

Once they were all in position, Laric raised his wings high in the air behind his head. A heavy feeling formed in the room, the feeling you got before a bad storm. The air seemed to thicken, the smell of ozone filled the air. Lightning arced between Laric's upraised wings, and thunder _crashed!_ Suddenly, they were no longer in the receiving room in the rooms Pepper had given to them. They were in what appeared to be a modest living room. The floor was polished wood, but it was scratched in places as though heavy things had been dragged across it. The walls were painted a soft cream, and there were a few worn pieces of furniture. A lone sofa, two cloth covered arm chairs, and a coffee table with a few books on it. Laric allowed his wings to relax and fold across his back again, he shifted slightly as though nervous, or perhaps embarrassed, as he saw them look around the room.

"You can put your things in here." He moved quickly to the left of the room and down a short hallway. There were 4 doors, Laric stopped at the first one and opened it to reveal a small bedroom. Smaller than either of the two they had at Ash's house, it had a double bed, dresser and nightstand. There were no windows. The second door had a bedroom identical to the first, and the third door was a tiny bathroom. Just big enough for a tub/shower combo, sink and toilet. "My bedroom is the door at the end. I.. rarely have overnight guests, so the rooms aren't much..."

"It's fine. I was afraid we would have to share a room with Fred and George, so this is perfect!" Harry made his voice sound cheerful and grinned at the twin cries of outrage. It was obvious that Laric was embarrassed, and expected them to compare his home to Pepper or Ash's. Just from the quick look around he'd gotten, Harry could tell that while the house was small and seemed shabby, Laric wasn't as poor as you would think at first glance. Sure, the furniture was older and well-worn, but it seemed to be solid. Heavy like they would have made a hundred or more years ago... He knew the Warriors were old, he wanted to take a closer look around, see if his idea was correct. But Laric was visibly uncomfortable, and he had no wish to make him more so. Tossing their bag on the bed in the first room, he and Fionn headed back into the hall where Fred and George waited impatiently.

"What should we see first?"

Laric led them from the house onto a surprisingly empty street. There were people around, but considering the Festival was going on, there was very little traffic, and everyone that Harry could see were Warriors. They had to hurry to keep up with the Warrior's long strides, though he quickly noticed and shortened them. Soon they had come to a wider street, and followed it along to a smaller Square. Vendors were here, as were a troupe of acrobats, and a Fae who was making illusionary creatures to the delight of her child audience. It wasn't long before they were swept up into the cheer of the Festival, so many sights and sounds.

One stall they passed was selling weapons. Swords and knives, axes and bows, strange things Harry couldn't name much less guess at how to use. He was surprised, he hadn't actually seen anyone _use_ a weapon in the Realm. Magics of various kinds, yes, weapons no. Another vendor was selling small animated toys. Little dragons who breathed real fire, sirens who sang a song with the touch of your finger, horses that pranced and neighed, purring kittens, barking puppies. He started to continue on past when one caught his eye. It was a small figure, only about 4 inches tall. A white unicorn that sparkled in the light, but as he watched it toss it's mane and walk around, it _changed._ A shadow seemed to start at it's hooves, it bled up the legs, turning the snow-white coat black. Soon a black unicorn walked where once the white unicorn had been, shadows seemed to form around it, and no sun sparkled on it's dark coat. And then brilliant white appeared again, slowly taking over until the transformation was back at the starting point. Harry didn't even think, he just picked it up and approached the vendor. Ash would _love_ this, it was perfectly her!

Tying the bag to his belt loops, he hurried to catch up to the group again, finding them only a few stalls down. Fred was already pestering Laric and George was pestering the vendor, Harry shook his head, they were going to be in trouble all the time now he just knew it. As they went to move on again, they heard yelling and saw a knot of people up ahead. He stretched up on his toes, but it was no good. He was too short to see what was going on. The crowd drifted towards them, and the yelling went up a notch.

"What's going on? Can any of you see?"

"Can't see a thing, too many people in the way. But I bet it's Rialyn." Fred looked down at Harry and grinned.

"Why?"

"Only Rialyn can piss someone off _that_ much." Fred and George said together, and then they started laughing. 

They laughed even harder when they were close enough to see that one of the people having the shouting match _was_ Rialyn! He had his hands planted on his hips, and was looking down his nose at a female gargoyle who was waving her arms around and yelling in his face.

"If you didn't want that answer, you shouldn't have asked an Indigo Fae to See for you. Go to the Mortal Realm and ask a Fortune Teller, maybe they'll give you a different answer. It won't be the truth, but you obviously are an idiot whom truth is wasted on." He sniffed and tossed his hair, the beads clicking softly. "Now pay up before I take you before the guard."

The gargoyle looked _pissed_ , but she did pull out a few coins, throwing them on the ground at Rialyn's feet before storming off. The red-haired Fae stooped and scooped up the coins, putting them in his pocket. As he straightened up again, his eyes fell on Harry and the rest, giving Harry a saucy wink, he turned and sauntered off. Harry shook his head, at least the Fae wasn't going in the direction they were headed.

The morning had turned to late afternoon, it had been a surprisingly fun day. Even with the crowds, there had been so much to see and do that none of them complained. Tonight there would be fireworks, and every night for the rest of the Festival as well. Laric, for all his formality, was fun to hang out with, and he seemed to know a lot of people. Or at least, a lot of people knew _him_. Harry wondered if it was because Laric was friends with Gideon, or if it was because of how long he'd lived in the Realm. But he wasn't quite willing to ask. If only Ash was with them, the day would have been perfect.


	31. A Test Of Skills

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to my beta Nicky Noodle.

Harry woke to the smell of something delicious in the air. It took his sleep-hazed mind a moment to remember where he was, Ash _never_ cooked if she could help it. And while Fred and George were capable, no one trusted them not to spike the food with something. He actually wasn't sure if Fionn knew how, it had never come up. Which meant that Harry himself did all the cooking, unless Ash bought something for them while they were out.

None of which explained where the wonderful aroma was coming from. Sliding from the bed, being careful not to wake Fionn just yet, Harry walked softly towards the wardrobe and grabbed his robe. He rarely used it at Ash's house, but he didn't quite feel comfortable enough around Laric to wander in just his sleep pants. That, and Laric himself had seemed embarrassed to catch him half-dressed the morning before. Tying the robe around his waist, he quietly left the bedroom and walked down the hall to the living room. The food smells were stronger in here, but there was so sign of food _or_ of Laric. There was however, another hallway across the room.

Heading down the new hallway, he ended up in a kitchen. Like the rest of the house, it was obviously lived in and well-loved. The counter tops were made of light grey granite, the floors a dark and glossy wood, and what appeared to be dark blue marble accents on the walls above the counters. 

Laric was standing at the stove, busy cooking up what appeared to be a feast of epic proportions. Harry could see a few covered platters already sitting on the dining table, as well as eggs and bacon cooking on the stove top. The oven appeared to be on as well, and he could only wonder what was cooking inside.

"Breakfast is almost ready, please have a seat." Laric spoke without turning away from the stove.

"Oh, um. I'll just go wake the others then." Harry hurried back the way he came, pausing at Fred and George's door long enough to bang on it and then crack it open to let the food smells do the rest of the job. Entering the room he was sharing with Fionn, he paused and had to smile. The Fae was curled in the middle of the bed, with the covers pulled up half over his face so only his white-blonde hair was visible. Approaching the bed and gently tugging down the covers, Harry leaned over and kissed the end of Fionn's nose.

"Come on sleepy, Laric is cooking a feast. And Fred and George will be dragging us out to see what the Festival is like on Day 3."

One golden eye squinted open and Fionn sighed before stretching and sitting up in bed. As the Fae woke up properly, Harry shed his robe and quickly changed clothes. After they were both ready, Harry led the way back through the house and into the kitchen. Fred and George were already sitting at the table and loading their plates, Gideon and Herne were there as well. Harry hadn't known they would be spending the day will all three of the Warriors.

Taking their places, Harry still wondered how they were ever going to eat all the food Laric had cooked. Eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes, waffles, fried potatoes, hash browns, muffins, toast, biscuits, fresh fruit, milk and juice. Did they eat like this every day?

Gideon noticed Harry's wide-eyed stare and chuckled. "Today is the day for testing our skills and winning prizes. Warriors from all over will be competing against each other today, and the trials will go on until dusk. If we're lucky, we will have time to get some lunch, but if they schedule the bouts too close together then this is the only meal we will get until dinner."

"Are you all competing?"

"Yes, but we're in different divisions. So at least one of us will be with you at all times. Don't wander off, but if you should get separated, tell someone you are under my protection and they will show you back to the correct ring." Gideon ate the last bite on his plate and carried it to the sink.

Harry blinked. It seemed like he had only just sat down, but most of the food was gone already. Even his own plate was empty. Putting his plate into the sink with the rest, he then followed everyone into the living room.

"Gid will be taking us to the Rings, and traveling by Shadow isn't _quite_ like other methods of transportation you've used before." Herne grinned. "Everyone grab hands, and whatever you do, _don't_ let go until we're there."

Harry took Fionn and George's hands, Fred grabbed George and Laric's hands, while Laric and Herne completed the circle. Gideon stood just behind Laric and Herne and gripped them by a shoulder each before flaring out his wings. Darkness fell like a heavy curtain around them all, Harry couldn't see anything, it was like he had been struck blind. But he felt when the others seemed to take a single step forwards, and followed them. The next thing he knew, light and noise exploded around him. They had arrived in a roped-off circle that seemed to have been set aside specifically for travel to and from this event. All around them were Warriors, most were chatting to each other and pointing at others. But some were working with various weapons, or reading from the lists posted on two large boards to one side of what looked like it might be a judge's stand.Laric and Herne herded them out of the circle and to a slightly less-crowded area, while Gideon made his way to the lists. After a few moments he returned.

"They actually seem to have sorted things well this year. Herne, you're up first in the 8th Ring, they've got you fighting Andruar." Gideon paused a moment, but Herne just shrugged. He didn't seem to have an opinion either way about his opponent. "I'll be in Ring 3, and Laric is Ring 6. You're going up against Krimgan."

"They allowed him back after last year?" Laric looked surprised and slightly grim.

"Apparently it was an 'accident', and he has been suitably punished for it." Gideon sounded as though he didn't believe it however. "Keep your guard up, you're the better fighter even with his dirty tricks. But you can be sure he'll try something." Laric just nodded silently. "Well! Let's head over to Ring 8 before all the best spots are gone. We'll see you after Herne." Gideon clapped his friend on the shoulder, and then led the way.

Ring 8 turned out to be in one of the farther areas from where they had arrived. The stands surrounding it reminded Harry of a football stadium he had seen once on TV while he was cleaning his Aunt's house. They all managed to claim a bench close enough to see the fight, without being _too_ close. The floor was dirt, and there really _was_ a ring surrounding the fighting area. It was made out of some kind of dark blue metallic looking substance and hovered a good 3 feet above the ground with nothing visibly supporting it. Laric noticed him looking at it.

"The Ring marks the out of bounds. If you can knock your opponent under or over the Ring, they forfeit the match. It is as much a test of your awareness as your physical skills."

A hush suddenly fell over the crowd, and two figures walked out into the middle of the Ring. One was Herne, and the other was a Water Demon of average height. They both inclined their heads to each other before turning their backs and taking 10 steps away. As they pivoted to face each other once more, Herne's right hand shot out and as his wrist twisted, a wooden staff appeared. His opponent had also called a staff into being. 

Circling each other, they looked for a good opportunity. With a loud _crack!_ Andruar's staff connected with Herne's, he had tried a powerful overhand blow and been blocked easily. Herne somehow managed to hook his staff around and shove the Water Demon's staff sideways just long enough to jab with the other end towards Andruar's face. He also missed. After that, the blows rained down quickly. Harry watched but couldn't keep up with the speed the Warriors were moving at. And then suddenly Herne managed to sweep the legs out from under Andruar, and before the Water Demon could roll to his feet, the end of Herne's staff was prodding him under the chin. Dropping his own staff, Andruar raised his hands slowly, yielding the fight to Herne.

They met up with Herne on the pathway leading to the Ring. He was a little ruffled looking, but not hurt from what Harry could tell.

"Well, that was my easy one for the day. Who's up next?"

"Laric. May his be the easy match these first few are supposed to be." 

Ring 6 wasn't too far off from where Herne's match had been, so they were still in time to find decent seats. As Harry settled in, he caught a snatch of conversation from above and behind him. He couldn't make out most of it, but he could have sworn he had heard the phrase _the Shadow_ in there somewhere. Try as he might, he wasn't able to hear any more or figure out who had spoken, or even if they had meant Ash and not a normal shadow. This Ring was set up like the previous one, only it was a few feet smaller in diameter. Once again, the two Warriors met in the middle before pacing 10 steps.

That was where things changed. Laric called a pair of... Harry wasn't sure if they were swords or daggers. They were long for daggers, and a bit wider than what he thought a dagger should be, but they were fairly short for swords. The blades curved very slightly, and he wondered if they were sharp on both edges. The Fire Demon he faced called a single sword, it also was curved and looked wickedly sharp. Krimgan grinned before attacking, his first move was to try to remove Laric's head from his body, but Laric dropped to one knee and struck out with his left-hand blade while holding the right one in a defensive position. The crowd yelled, though whether it was because Krimgan had missed, or because he looked to be attacking to kill, Harry didn't know. The Fire Demon jumped back and Laric rolled to his right before springing back to his feet. They circled each other a moment before another flurry of blows rang out. Laric took a slash to his left bicep, they could just see the blood trickling from the wound. 

Krimgan had a bruise forming on his forehead, Harry wasn't sure from what. The next clash saw Laric holding his blades crossed, trapping the Fire Demon's blade between them as they strained for control. Fire suddenly leapt to Laric's hands and he jerked them away, beating them on his tunic to put out the flames. One of the judges yelled something that was lost in the noise of the crowd, it looked like he was trying to call the match but Krimgan ignored him and lunged for Laric again. Laric twisted quickly, but was just a hair too slow and took another slash across one wing. Swinging back around, he suddenly dropped and shot out his right foot at the same time. A loud _crunch_ was heard as his foot connected with the Fire Demon's left knee and Krimgan collapsed to the dirt floor. 3 Warriors entered the Ring from near the judge's stand and surrounded Krimgan, dragging him from the Ring and out of sight. 

Laric stood still a moment before nodding at the judge and heading out of the Ring. "I was declared the winner, and Krimgan is barred from the Rings."

"They should have done that _last_ year! Everyone knows he only made Warrior because of his family," Herne spoke angrily, but Gideon raised a hand and cut him off.

"Enough! Not here, too many ears. We need to get Laric to the Healer's tent so they can patch him up before his next match. I still have a little while before I have to get to mine."

Blood was dripping from the slashes Laric had taken, and there were a few bruises as well. As they moved to leave the area, Fionn reached out towards Laric's wing which was bleeding the most. But before his hand could connect, and before Gideon realized what Fionn was about to do, another hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, squeezing it and yanking it back down.

"What the fuck are you doing? And in a crowd like this? Have you _no_ brains in that head of yours at all?" 

Turning quickly to see who had grabbed Fionn, Harry saw Rialyn. But he had never seen the Fae look this angry before. He appeared to be beyond livid, his red eyes flashing with his anger and a flush across both cheeks. Flinging Fionn's arm down and releasing him, the red-haired Fae took two steps until they were almost chest to chest, and hissed his next words. "Do you have a death wish? Because to use _that_ Gift in a crowd like this, that is exactly what it would be. For you _and_ for your mate and anyone who tried to intervene once they realized what you are."

Fionn shrank back, almost stumbling into Harry as he crumpled in on himself. Gideon cursed softly under his breath. "I suggest we move this somewhere a little more private, we are drawing attention I'm sure you don't want." Motioning towards a nearby tent, Gideon led the way inside and invoked a privacy ward once they were all in.

Fionn huddled in Harry's arms as Rialyn stalked back and forth angrily muttering to himself under his breath. The others moved out of the way, even Fred and George looked a little cowed by the red-haired Fae.

"How did you know about Fionn's Gift? For all you know, he could have been about to do _anything._ " Harry was upset that Rialyn had scared Fionn so badly, but he remembered the warning Gideon had given them, it seemed so long ago now.

"Indigo Fae." Rialyn tapped the golden markings around his eyes. "I use Runes to keep my Gift turned off unless I invoke it specifically, but it still gives me glimpses of important things on occasion. I Saw him. And then I Saw what happened next if I wasn't here." His voice was still on the cold side, but it was evident he was trying to calm himself. "As you obviously need things explained in small terms... _Do not use that Gift in public!_ There are still things worse than death, and worse than what you have suffered in your life to have gained that Gift." Rialyn took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment before letting it out and seemingly to make a decision. His fingers went to his shirt, and in one smooth motion, stripped it off over his head and turned his back to them.

Scars stood out against the caramel skin of Rialyn's back. Some were raised up, some were flat to the skin, and a few were sunken in slightly. But all of them were pale and old-looking. There were so many of them it was hard to tell in places where one scar ended or another began. They curled around his ribs, over the tops of his shoulders, and down his spine. They nearly covered his back, and when he turned slightly, Fionn could see that there were a few on his chest as well. Not as many there, but enough to be noticed. Where his unmarred skin peeked out between the scars, it looked strange against the paleness. Even the Warriors looked sickened by the sight of so many.

"What you see is the result of many years, too many. Even our Healing can only do so much."

"What caused all that?" Harry pulled Fionn closer to himself, felt the Fae gripping his shirt tightly as he looked upon the scars.

Rialyn laughed, it was completely devoid of humor and he looked away a moment. "What didn't? Whips, knives, acid. But I didn't break, and sometimes I think that may have been the best revenge of all." Pulling his shirt back on, he turned to face them fully once more. "This or worse will happen to you too, I have Seen it. Unless you take better care to hide your Gift, and without training it will call to you to use it. And so, to keep you from that path, and to keep Harry alive to give Djuran and I the favors he owes, I am willing to teach you the use of that Gift. Do you accept?"

Fionn raised his golden eyes, locking them with Rialyn's red for a long moment. Finally he nodded, licking his lips he spoke softly. "I accept."

"Good!" Clapping his hands, the red-haired Fae seemed to lose all his previous anger and smiled brightly at them all. "Then your first lesson will start after the Festival is over. Until then, _do not use your Gift._ Unless it is a life or death situation, and even then you must be careful no one sees!"

Dropping the privacy ward, the group left the tent and headed off. Rialyn back to whatever match he had been going to see, and the rest to watch Gideon in the two-handed sword fight in Ring 3.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While writing this chapter, a friend asked if one of the guys was going to be in Harry's mateship and how it would happen. He isn't going to be, at least he was never planned. But the idea kept bothering me until I wrote it. So now there is a one-shot posted separately called "Shadows and Light: Dreamscapes".
> 
> There may or may not be future additions to that, it depends on what my muse cooks up for me. But if any of you are interested, you can find it here under that name.


	32. Adzir

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So "Vorthr" is an old Norse word that means "Guardian Spirit." It isn't _exactly_ fitting, but I couldn't find another word that I liked the look/sound of nearly as much. I am using it in place of a word like "ward" or "protegee."
> 
> This chapter has been split into 2 chapters, mostly because the tone of this one compared to what is now Chapter 33 are completely different and I didn't think they meshed well.
> 
> Thanks as always to my wonderful Beta, Nicky Noodle.

As Harry walked down the hall to the shower, he heard soft voices coming from the living room. He was about to keep going when Gideon's voice rose slightly and he froze in place.

"I'm sure. The report I heard stated that the Shadow would be trying to kidnap the Lady of the Air's youngest daughter during the Festival."

"But that doesn't make any sense. They've never gone after people before, just objects. Why would they be changing targets now?" Harry could almost hear the frown in Laric's voice, and he frowned himself. _Ash would Never hurt a child!_

"I have no idea. That's just what I was told by some of the Guards, they'll be thick all over for the next few days until the Festival is over or the Shadow is caught. But that's not the only problem this morning. My uncle wishes to meet our Vorthr and Harry too."

There was a sound too soft for Harry to catch, it almost sounded like Laric had _cursed._ But that couldn't be right, he had never heard the quiet Warrior so much as raise his voice before.

"My thoughts exactly. But when the Lord speaks, I must follow, even if he _is_ my uncle." Gideon's voice sounded amused.

As Harry wavered between listening some more, and hurrying to the bathroom before he was caught eavesdropping, he heard the Warriors moving. Deciding it was past time to get to the shower, he hurried as silently as he could until he was inside the bathroom with the door shut. As he showered, his mind kept turning the conversation he had heard over and over. Ash had been missing for four days now, there were only three days left after this of the Festival. And she had been so excited about dragging them all off and showing them everything. It was strange that she would suddenly vanish the morning it was all due to start. And yes, she was a thief. But she was _not_ a kidnapper. Which means... He stopped in the process of drying his hair with a fluffy towel. Which _means_ , that one of the copy-cat thieves Ash had mentioned when she first told them her secret must be the one who wished to kidnap the Lady of Air's daughter. And _that_ meant that Ash had to be trying to track them down. It was the only explanation he could come up with that fit the pieces he had. After all, he couldn't see Ash stealing from her own elements ruler.

As he entered the bedroom again, Fionn was getting his things together to take his own shower.

"I heard an interesting conversation on the way to the shower." He picked his words carefully, if _he_ had managed to accidentally hear the conversation, he didn't want to take any chances that the Warriors would hear _this_. Fionn tilted his head and looked at Harry curiously.

"Apparently the Shadow is planning on kidnapping the youngest daughter of the Lady of the Air during the Festival."

Fionn's eyes widened and his mouth opened, but Harry shook his head and pointed to his own ears before pointing at the door of the room. The Fae closed his mouth with a small frown, golden eyes glinting in the light from the window. Harry pulled Fionn into his arms for a moment, holding him close with his mouth near one of the Fae's ears.

"I know. It can't be her. But if we keep our ears open, we might find out something useful." He barely breathed the words, but Fionn's body relaxed and he nodded his head slightly.

Leaving Fionn to shower and dress, Harry crossed the house to the kitchen where he found the two Warriors and Fred and George. Surprisingly, there was nothing cooking, or any food ready on the table. George was sitting _at_ the table, but Fred was sprawled out on his back half under it with Gideon standing above him with his arms crossed.

"Do I even _want_ to know what you've done now Fred?"

"Me? I didn't--"

The foot nearest Fred's ribs tapped the floor meaningfully, and Fred cut himself off to look slowly up at Gideon. "Ah, that is to say... No? Best behavior! Right, got it." He saluted, still laying prone on the floor as George turned his face away to hide his laughter.

"My uncle wishes to meet all of you, and has requested our presence this morning. We are to have breakfast with him, and as he **is** the Lord of the Shadow, I expect all of you to be on your best behavior." Gideon looked meaningfully at George, who quickly nodded his head. "We have to walk, elemental transportation doesn't work around the homes of the Lords and Ladies for safety."

Gideon led the way out of Laric's house with Fred and George following him, Harry and Fionn fell into line behind the twins, and Laric followed them to be sure no one wandered off or got lost on the way. The Festival was in full swing, even this early in the morning, and a lot of the vendors were the same as they had seen before. Harry found his attention wandering slightly, still thinking about Ash as well as what meeting the Lord of the Shadow would be like. He had one arm around Fionn's waist and just followed the others without really paying all that much attention to where they were or where they were going.

At least until he felt Fionn stiffen and start to shake slightly. He looked to see what was wrong and saw all the color had drained from the Fae's face, his eyes were wide and slightly haunted looking. Harry stopped dead and his wings went up as he bristled, looking around for what had put that look on Fionn's face. They were in the thick of a crowd. Fae, Gargoyles, other Demons and a small cluster of Djinn surrounded them. The Djinn all gave off that same feeling of darkness that he had noticed from Djuran, but he wasn't among them. There were 2 red-skinned Djinn, one was holding the leash of one of those black panther-like creatures. This close he could see it had no fur, but was covered in an almost waxy-looking hide. It had no ears, just a small hole on either side of the head where the ears should be, and way more fangs than he had ever seen on a cat. They were all needle-like and quite long, it was hissing as people got too close to it and the Djinn who held it's leash was laughing. The other 2 Djinn were both blue-skinned, one was shaved bald and tall, the other was short and stocky with short black hair and a goatee.

His attention was pulled back to his mate when he felt Fionn sag against him with a soft whimper. Whipping his head around he still couldn't see what the threat could be. "Fi? What's the matter?" The rest of the group had noticed they weren't moving by this time, and had come back to see what the problem was.

Fionn shuddered and turned empty eyes towards Harry. "He's here. I ca-can't." Shaking his head Fionn made a high-pitched keening sound, and Harry lost it. Pushing Fionn into a startled George's arms, Harry mantled his wings even higher and looked closer at the Djinn. He hissed and took a step forwards when Gideon suddenly blocked his way.

"Harry! Focus! What is wrong? Don't lose yourself, tell me what's going on so we can help you."

As Gideon reached out to grip his shoulder, Harry relaxed his grip on his Fire. His wings burst into flames, they danced along his arms, dripped from his hair, a small flame flickered in each pupil. And suddenly they had all the room they needed as the crowd backed away, leaving the group in the center of an open space. Harry whipped his head around, trying to see where the Djinn had gone. He hadn't expected to meet the one who had hurt Fionn, but now that he was here, he _would_ make him pay.

Gideon cursed, his own wings coming up, trying to block Harry's sight of the crowd behind him. "Laric, stay with George and Fionn. Fred! On my mark, douse him!"

Laric moved to stand behind George who had yet to let go of Fionn. Resting one hand on George's right shoulder, he used his wings to shelter them and hopefully block out some of what was going on. Fred moved to Gideon's side and reached out with his right hand, palm facing Harry who was still burning fiercely and looking for someone to attack.

The moment all were in place, Gideon took hold of Fred's left arm and nodded sharply. "Now!" A huge gush of water shot from Fred's spread fingers, hitting Harry in the face and making the flames hiss and die on his hair and shoulders. The moment he sputtered and shook his head, Gideon darted in and gripped him with his free hand. The next moment he had invoked Shadow and all three were gone. 

Most of the crowd had moved on by then, not wanting to get in the way of an angry Fire Demon. Laric relaxed his stance and folded his wings back out of the way before looking down at George and Fionn. "What happened? Why did Harry lose control that badly?"

George looked down at Fionn, who was still clutching his shirt tightly with his face buried in George's neck. His slender frame was still shuddering, but he wasn't crying that George could tell. Gently sliding a hand beneath the Fae's chin, he lifted Fionn's head until he could look into his eyes. They were completely blank and unseeing, as though no one was at home inside his head and George shuddered slightly himself before focusing back.

"Fionn? Can you hear me?" There was no response, the Fae let himself be moved around like a doll, but there was no sign that he had heard a word spoken. George lightly slapped Fionn's cheek, and other than a brief flinch, there was still no response. Frowning to himself he thought a moment, and then he spoke Harry's nickname for the Fae in a firm voice. " **Fi.** " There was the tiniest flicker in the golden eyes, but it was gone again almost as quickly. He could feel Laric's presence looming behind them, knew the Warrior would keep them safe while he delt with Fionn. But he was fast running out of ideas on how to reach the Fae.

With a soft sound of frustration, George tilted Fionn's head up a little more. Looking into those empty eyes was giving him the creeps, but he didn't know what else to do to reach him... Wait... He remembered Fionn's reaction to Rialyn. Would messing with this end of the mateship snap him out of things? He was willing to take the chance of being hit to snap him out of this. Sliding his hand from under Fionn's chin, he changed his grip to cradle the Fae's face with his thumb still underneath to hold Fionn's head at the right angle. And then he leaned down and lightly kissed him. At first there was no response, and just when he was about to pull away and ask for Laric's suggestions, he felt Fionn let out a breath through his nose and the lips beneath his parted slightly. Without thinking, George deepened the kiss, pulling Fionn closer and into a better angle. The Fae slowly relaxed, unclenching his death grip on George's shirt as he returned the kiss.

After a moment, Fionn pulled away. Resting his face in the crook of George's neck, he breathed deeply as George ran soothing fingers along the Fae's spine.

"Fionn? Can you tell us what happened?" George tried to keep his voice even, though he was worried just asking the question would send Fionn over again.

"He was here." He whispered the answer against George's skin.

"Who was here?"

"Adzir."

"Who is Adzir?"

There was a long pause, George wasn't sure if Fionn would answer the question but he finally did. He pulled back slightly and looked up into George's concerned blue eyes before whispering. "Adzir is the Djinn who bought me."

George could suddenly see _exactly_ why Harry had lost it as he darted a quick look at the crowd. He didn't see any sign of the group of Djinn from before, but he did feel the anger Laric was feeling behind them. He flicked a wing in Laric's direction as he brought his focus back to Fionn. He was still surprised he hadn't been yelled at for kissing him, and the Fae still hadn't actually tried to leave his arms either. Feeling that a subject change was in order, and wanting to ask before Harry returned, he gave a faint hint of his usual crooked smile.

"I'm sorry for kissing you, it was the only thing I could think of to wake you up after the other ideas failed. But I must admit I'm surprised you let me, and returned it!"

Fionn looked at George a moment, before seeming to accept the change of subject and resting his head on George's shoulder again. "I told you and Fred when you first came here. Harry wants you and Fred as mates. He doesn't realize yet of course, because he's Harry. But you two _will_ be joining us. So why should I object? It won't change things, and I have no issues with either of you joining us."

George blinked down at the golden head resting so easily on his shoulder. He still didn't think Harry was interested in them, he'd never shown any signs of being interested in them in _that_ way. But Fionn sounded so sure...

 

****

***Meanwhile, with Harry***

The moment they were free of Shadow, Harry lashed out at Gideon. How _dare_ he take him from his mate when there was danger there! He snarled as he missed, the Warrior yanking his hand back just in time. He noticed Fred move back away against a wall, but most of his attention was focused on the Warrior in front of him. His wings still dripped fire, as did his hands. Flames tried to grow along his shoulders and upper arms again, but he was still dripping with the water Fred had doused him with and the flames were having a hard time taking hold.

Gideon circled Harry, keeping a wary eye on his hands and wings. "Harry. Calm yourself. Get control of your Fire. _Now._ Fionn is in no danger, Laric is with him."

The only response Harry gave, was a hiss. The flames did not die down, though he seemed to have given up calling any more than what was on his wings and hands. He turned to face Gideon, keeping him in sight and not allowing the Warrior to get behind him.

Gideon could see he wasn't getting through to Harry yet, but kept his attention focused on himself instead of Fred. Once he had Harry with his back to Fred, he nodded once sharply and Harry found himself doused in Water again. The flames on his wings sputtered and died, and he yelled in outrage, turning to face George. Gideon took immediate advantage and leaped forward, grabbing Harry around the chest and pinning his wings between them. Fred quickly doused Harry's hands, and then moved out of the way of the struggle.

And Harry _did_ struggle. He kicked and wiggled, tried to use his head to smack Gideon in the face, but nothing he did got himself released. He finally hung limply in the Warriors arms.

"Are you listening again? Do you understand what I'm saying Harry?"

"I hear you." He sounded sullen even to himself.

"Good. Is your Fire under control again?"

"Yes." He almost hissed the word. "We have to get back to Fionn. He's not safe!"

"Fionn is fine Harry. Laric and George are with him. You don't believe they'd let anything happen to Fionn, do you?"

"He needs me. That Djinn was there! The one who hurt him!" Harry tried to struggle again, but the arms around him were just as strong as before and he got nowhere.

"You can't take on a Djinn Harry. You couldn't even take on _me_. You weren't thinking with your head, you were letting your Demon rule you. Which is why you couldn't get your Fire to keep burning after Fred doused you. Hasn't Ash taught you what goes on when you let that happen?"

Harry bowed his head, the fight finally leaving him as he watched water drip onto the floor beneath himself. "I just got so angry. He was so scared, didn't you see how scared he was?"

Gideon slowly lowered Harry to stand on the floor, his arms loosening slightly but not releasing Harry yet just in case. "I did. And had you explained what was happening, we could have helped you both. Instead, you lost it in the middle of a crowd. Do you have any idea how many people you could have injured with your Fire? Including Fionn?" Gideon's voice was filled with disappointment as he finally released Harry fully and stepped back.

"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen, I just saw his face and he was so afraid. I couldn't seem to help myself."

Fred finally moved forward and reached out, lifting Harry's head so he could look him in the face. "Did you _really_ think we wouldn't help you protect Fionn? I _know_ you'd protect George, why would you think I wouldn't do the same for Fionn?" Blue eyes looked into green and held them when Harry would have looked away.

"I know you would have Fred. I just... I couldn't think straight. All I could think about was that Fi was afraid, and the one who had hurt him so badly was right there in front of us."

Fred slid his hand around to the back of Harry's neck and squeezed, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to get his point across. "Next time, tell us what's going on. I'll help, you know I will. And George wouldn't let anything happen to Fionn either. But we can't help if you don't talk to us."

Harry hung his head again and nodded. "I know. I'm sorry."

"And there had better not _be_ a next time. Had you harmed an innocent person in that crowd, you would have been brought up before the Lord of the Flame. And I could not have helped you much there." Gideon said quietly. "Are you calm enough to return to the others? In control of yourself and your Fire?" At Harry's nod, Gideon flicked his fingers out and Harry found himself dry again, though his hair was a worse mess than usual.

Reaching out, Gideon took Harry and Fred by the hand and invoked Shadow. Harry had no idea how much time had passed since he had been snatched away, but when they stepped out again, he saw Fionn resting comfortably in George's arms and Laric looming behind them watchfully. It made him feel even worse than he had already, he had failed his mate. Instead of taking care of Fionn, telling the others what was happening, he had lost control and had to be removed from the area like a toddler throwing a tantrum. His wings sagged down a bit and he hunched in on himself slightly, but with a push from Fred, he moved forward into George's line of sight. 

George raised his brows at him, and then gave a pointed look down at the top of Fionn's head. Harry flushed but nodded, hoping his face looked as apologetic as he felt. George murmured something to Fionn that Harry wasn't able to catch, but it didn't matter as the next moment the Fae had lifted his head to look for Harry. And then released George and flung himself into Harry's arms, burying his face into Harry's neck.

"Shhh.... I'm here, I'm sorry I lost it. But I'm here, and you're safe."


	33. Lord Damien

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to my beta, Nicky Noodle.
> 
> Also, as a clarification since it's been asked. Vorthr is the Realm word for a specific kind of student. It only applies to someone who has a Guide, and only in reference to that Guide. So in Fred and George's case, Fred is Gideon's Vorthr, but he is NOT Laric's, even though Laric teaches both Fred and George and is basically babysitting them at the moment. George is Laric's Vorthr, and Harry is Ash's Vorthr. While a single Guide may have charge of all three of them for a time, only that Guide's specific student is referred to as his/her Vorthr.

The group finally made it to an older part of the city, where the crowd was much thinner. As Harry looked around, he realized it looked like the area Pepper lived in. The homes here were all huge and ornate, all of them were old, and most had vast grounds surrounding them. Gideon led them towards one of the larger buildings. It was a good 8 stories tall, and built like some of the palaces Harry had seen in the calendars his Aunt Petunia had liked to put up. The walls were a dark grey stone, with carvings and statues all over. A long and wide staircase of a lighter grey stone led up to imposing double doors. There were two Warriors standing there, the one on the left had a large sword in his hand. The one on the right had a bow and arrows. Both came to immediate attention as the group approached. Gideon led the way, stopping a few stairs down from the landing.

"We are here at the request of the Lord of the Shadow. My name is Gideon Reed, this is my Third, Laric Winters." He motioned to Laric, who inclined his head. "Our Vorthr, Fred and George," the Twins waved cheerfully. "And the Vorthr of a friend, Harry and his mate Fionn." Harry nodded silently to the Warrior Guards, Fionn tucked into his side, did the same. 

The guards seemed to relax once they heard the names. "You are expected Heir Shadow. The Lord is waiting for you in his apartments." The guard with the sword spoke, his tone deferential, as his partner bowed and opened the door to them.

Gideon nodded to them and led the way inside, ignoring the amusement on Laric's face and the stares of Fred and George. Harry was just as surprised as the twins, Gideon was the Lord of the Shadow's _Heir?!_ That had never been mentioned, he wondered why. He would have thought that Ash at least would have mentioned it when she told them Gideon was the Lord's nephew.

The inside of the building was just as ornate as the outside. Everything was done in shades of grey, with white or black accents scattered around. Gideon led them without pausing, Harry guessed he had been here many times. Another wide stone staircase lay ahead of them, the runner was a thick black with silver swirls that looked like smoke in the design. Each landing had it's own set of Warrior Guards who bowed to Gideon with their right hand over their hearts. Gideon would nod silently to them and pass on upwards, by the time they reached the 8th floor he looked slightly annoyed and shot a glare or two towards Laric who had laughter in his eyes.

The hallway they turned onto was long, with only a few doors. At the very end were a set of double doors with a single Warrior standing in front of them. Though, lounged might be a better term. As Harry got closer, he could see the Shadow Demon Warrior was shorter than Gideon, only 5'10" perhaps. He had auburn hair worn in the usual Warrior braids, but they were tied together by a leather thong just at the base of his head. He had dark blue eyes, and more freckles than Harry had ever seen. They covered his face and neck, as well as his arms and hands. There was scarcely any skin that he could see that _didn't_ have a scattering of freckles covering it. A scar ran across his face, running from just under the inside corner of his left eye, across his nose and halfway down his right cheek. The nose itself appeared as though it had been broken more than once and not set quite right. His wings were a dark purple, so dark they almost appeared solid black instead of the purple and black they actually were. As they stopped in front of him, he straightened up with a smile.

"Gideon! It's been a while since you came to see our Lord. Still looking well I see. And Laric." He nodded at Laric before turning his attention back to Gideon. "Who are your friends?"

"These are Laric and my Vorthr, Fred and George." He motioned to the twins who waved again. "Harry is the Vorthr of a friend, Uncle Damien asked to meet him. And this is Fionn, his mate. This is Nikolas, he is the Captain of the Shadow Guard."

Harry smiled and inclined his head to Nikolas as he had seen Laric do on many occasions. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

Nikolas nodded, an easy smile on his face. "Nice to meet you as well young one." Turning back to Gideon, he reached out and clasped their right arms together. "Always a pleasure seeing you Gideon, I wish we had more time to chat but I'm sure your Uncle would like to see you." Slowly releasing his grip his fingers trailed down Gideon's arm lightly before he reached behind himself to open the doors for them.

Harry's eyes narrowed slightly, not sure he liked the way Nikolas touched Gideon, but he wasn't sure why it bothered him exactly either. Laric didn't look any happier, but he couldn't tell if it was because Nikolas had basically ignored Laric, or because he had touched Gideon. Shaking his head slightly, he followed the others into the room and then stopped dead. The room was enormous! Everything was done in shades of black and grey, even the walls and ceiling were swirled with the colors. Plush rugs were scattered about the room, covering the black marble floors and helping to give a warmth to the room. 

Ahead of them was a large fireplace with a fire crackling merrily in the grate. Breakfast was set out on the coffee table in front of the fire, and various couches and chairs were arranged in a semi-circle facing the fireplace. In one of the tall chairs, a Shadow Demon sat, though he didn't look anything like what Harry had been expecting. He had short, dark blonde hair and light grey eyes. The eyes reminded him of Gideon, and they had a bit of the same facial structure, both had high cheekbones and a slightly square jaw. But while Gideon was built like a Warrior, all broad shoulders and muscle, the Lord of the Shadow was built more like Fionn. Willowy and slender, narrow waisted, small almost delicate hands. His wings were a very pale purple that stood out against the black blotches. 

As he stood to greet them, Harry sensed movement. Looking quickly towards his right, he saw another Shadow Warrior watching the group closely, with yet another one standing almost hidden by a screen off to their left. Harry was about to worry, when he realized they must be guards for the Lord of the Shadow. Silly to think he wouldn't have any in the room with him, even while visiting with his nephew. Turning his attention back to said Lord, he watched as Gideon was pulled into a hug and fussed over.

"Do I really have to issue formal requests to see my own nephew? You used to come and visit me without them Gideon." He looked up at his nephew with his arms crossed.

"That was before you decided to declare me your Heir without asking me if I agreed Uncle."

"If I had asked, you would have said no! But you are the best one to take over from me when I get bored of my duties. None of my children have the right temperament. Can you see Almaya as the Lady of the Shadow?" He snorted. "Or heavens forbid Nirdue!"

"I do not qualify to be your Heir Uncle. I am not mated. Nor do I wish to take up your duties. I have enough of my own to see to." Gideon's voice was filled with somewhat fond exasperation.

"You are not mated _now_ , but I am also not ready to retire. By the time I _am_ ready, you may have finally decided to get a mate. But enough of this, introduce me." The Lord of the Shadow walked back towards the fireplace and dropped gracefully back into the chair he had been sitting in when they arrived.

With a long-suffering sigh, and a glare at Laric who was trying not to laugh, Gideon pointed at everyone in turn. "This is Fred, my Vorthr. That is George, Fred's twin and Laric's Vorthr. Harry and his mate Fionn. Though I still don't understand why you wished to meet Harry, he isn't my Vorthr, nor is he a Shadow Demon." The Lord merely waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. Gideon rolled his eyes. "And this, is my Uncle Damien. Lord of the Shadow."

Fred and George put their right hands over their hearts and bowed, they had presumably been instructed to do so that morning. Harry quickly copied them, Fionn doing so as well.

Lord Damien gestured to what looked like a large footstool that was placed to the left of the chair he sat in. "Harry, come and sit with me. I have many questions for you, it has been a long while since I last spoke to one who was raised in the Mortal Realm."

Harry hesitantly approached and sat where he was directed, after his meltdown earlier he didn't really wish to be separated from Fionn, even by so small a space as a different chair. But he could hardly refuse the Lord of the Shadow either. As he sat, he saw Fred move to put Fionn between himself and George, on the couch nearest where Harry and Lord Damien were. Gideon took the chair across from his Uncle, with Laric on a similar seat to Harry's between Gideon and Fred. Plates were passed around, and soon filled and the room was quiet for a little while as everyone ate.

"So you are a Wizard as well as a Fire Demon? And you were living in the Mortal Realm?" Harry looked up to see Lord Damien's grey eyes staring straight at him and he quickly swallowed the food he was eating.

"Yes... my Lord?" He had no idea how he was supposed to address the Lord of the Shadow, and suddenly wished he had thought to ask this _before_ they had gotten here and been introduced.

"And you have already found yourself a mate. That's very good, are you looking to add to your mateship? Or are you happy with just one for now?"

"Uncle!"

"What? It's just a question Gideon."

"You're meddling! Nothing is ever a simple question with you. Leave Harry alone, he doesn't need you sticking your nose in his life like you do mine."

Lord Damien huffed and leaned back in his chair. "I can see chatting will be wasted on you this morning. Have you heard about the threat to Lady Annalise's daughter?"

"Yes Uncle, I heard about it this morning right after receiving your summons. It doesn't make sense though, why would the Shadow kidnap a child? They usually steal items, not people."

"I'm sure I don't know, but if they actually dare, they will finally be caught and dealt with as they should be. Keep an ear out for me, will you? I've promised Lady Annalise to inform her if I hear of anything."

"Of course Uncle, you know I will. I'm sorry, but we really _do_ have things we need to get done this morning." Gideon stood and hugged his uncle again before taking a step back. "I promise to visit you more often, if _you_ promise to stop meddling."

Lord Damien laughed and shook his head. "Now where would the fun be in that?"

As they left Lord Damien's rooms, Harry could feel Nikolas' eyes following them down the hall. He wasn't sure exactly what the Lord of the Shadow had been up to during their brief conversation, but Gideon seemed to have followed it and objected to _something._ They were halfway down the grand staircase before Laric spoke.

"He's interested in you Gideon, had you noticed?"

Gideon paused mid-step and looked at Laric before continuing on down the stairs. "Who? My Uncle? It's hard not to notice he's interested. Though I would call it 'meddling' more than interest."

"Nikolas. The way he watches you, and speaks to you, you are the Heir whether you like it or not, but he treats you differently even from that status."

Gideon shook his head, they had now reached the main doors leading out of the building. "I don't see it Laric. I certainly don't encourage that sort of attention from anyone, I have too many constraints on my time as it is."

Laric shrugged, then reached out to smack the back of Fred's head. "Just mentioning in case you decided you _were_ interested." He grinned.

"Oi! What was that for?" Fred rubbed the back of his head and glared at Laric.

"Adding your tricks to one of the main water supplies in this area is _not_ one of your better ideas." Laric said dryly.

"Main water supply? Er, oops? I mean, I didn't drop anything in the water."

"Only because I smacked you first."

"As entertaining as this isn't, I do have somewhere I need to be. _Behave_ Fred, or I'll teach Laric more things to annoy you with." Gideon stared at his Vorthr a moment and then walked off into the crowd.


	34. More of the Festival, Day 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to my beta, Nicky Noodle.
> 
>  
> 
> Vorthr is the name for a very specific kind of student, only used in reference to the student of a Guide.

As the group wandered around the Festival, they came to a stage. On the stage were a group of musicians, 2 Fae on guitars, a Gargoyle on the drums, and an Incubi was the lead singer. Judging by the crowd of people dancing, it was a popular group. Fred and George took one look at the dancing crowd, and quickly joined the throng their jade and lapis wings flaring out as they danced wildly with each other. 

Laric shook his head and glanced at Harry and Fionn before a slight smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. Moving to stand in front of Harry, he bowed formally with his left hand behind his back and the right held out towards Harry.

"Would you like to dance?"

Harry's eyes widened and he quickly thrust both hands behind his back, shaking his head. Visions of the Yule Ball ran through his mind, it had been an utter disaster and he had no wish to make a fool of himself again thank you very much!

Ice blue eyes sparkling with laughter, Laric smoothly turned and held his hand out to Fionn instead. The Fae looked at him a moment, golden eyes thoughtful, and then he slowly placed his hand into the Warrior's larger one. Laric led him to the edge of the dancers, where he could still keep an eye on Harry and the twins. The black-haired Warrior stood a good 8 inches taller than Fionn, but it didn't seem to matter, he flared out his black and white wings much the way the other Demons in the crowd were doing, and spun Fionn out and then pulled him back in. The dance seemed to call for a lot of lifting of the smaller partner, and twirls, waving of arms and generally twisting your body. 

Harry had to admit it actually looked like it might be fun, but he still thought he would be rubbish at it. He couldn't even follow the dance steps in the Wizarding World, how could he possibly learn the ones in the Realm? Fionn looked to be having a great time, his white-blonde hair flaring out from his face with every twirl, golden skin almost seeming to glow. Laric's braids whipped around his body as he moved, they reached half-way down his back normally, but with the dance, they flew around to wrap around his arms, and brush over Fionn. As the song ended, Fionn came to a stop, his eyes gleaming happily up at the Warrior and his lips moving in some unheard comment. Laric laughed and placed his hand on the small of Fionn's back, gently guiding him back to where Harry was waiting.

Just as they reached Harry, Fred and George appeared from the crowed and carried Fionn off between them, heading back into the thick of the dancing. Laric chuckled softly and came to stand beside Harry, folding his wings to hang down his back and out of the way again.

"Are you sure you do not wish to dance?"

"I'm a horrible dancer, I'd just embarrass both of us and tromp on your feet." Harry could feel himself blushing just _thinking_ about how he'd end up screwing up, and kept his eyes firmly on his friends instead of looking up at Laric.

"Were you the lead, or did you follow?"

"Following is the girl's position... I mean, I only ever danced with girls, I didn't ever think about boys that way until I came here and met Fionn."

"If you have a good partner, dancing isn't really very hard. You just follow their lead, I'm a fairly good lead."

Harry bit his lip and then shook his head, he really didn't want to disappoint the Warrior, but he just _knew_ dancing would be a terrible idea. They stood in silence for a while, watching Fred and George dance with Fionn, passing him back and forth between them for a while before all dancing together. Harry didn't notice as his foot tapped with the beat, and his body swayed gently to the rhythm. The musicians were really good, and didn't seem like they would be stopping anytime soon. He was aware of Laric moving behind him, and when the Warrior's hands lightly came to rest on his shoulders, he didn't jump, but his eyes widened as he felt himself being lightly moved through a few of the easy steps. No twirls, lifts or spins, just a few steps forward, a sway to the side, and then back again. As nothing else was done, he gradually relaxed and allowed the movement, surprised when he didn't stumble as much as he had expected to. 

Laric slowly started turning Harry to face him, still moving him through the steps. As the Warrior moved his hands to keep guiding him, he accidentally brushed over the top of Harry's right wing. Harry gasped as a jolt shot straight through him, his head jerked up and he met surprised blue eyes before Laric hastily moved his hand back to Harry's shoulder. He was surprised by the strength of the feeling, it had been stronger than when both Fred and George were examining his wings before they'd been changed. Gideon hadn't said anything about the strength of the feelings he might get, just that they were a gauge of compatibility. So did that mean...?

"You're thinking too hard. Listen to the music." Laric cut through his thoughts, voice just loud enough to be heard over the music. Harry realized that while he had been lost in shock, the Warrior had been moving them through the steps he had already been showing Harry before. Harry looked up at him, Laric's black and white marbled wings were flared out to the sides, gently waving as they danced and the Warrior's ice blue eyes were looking down at him. 

Harry dropped his eyes down to Laric's chest, with the difference in their heights, it hurt his neck to look up at his face, and he was still a little nervous about messing up the dance. His charcoal and blood red wings twitched, but he kept them folded down his back, not quite ready to try adding them to the mix. If strength of reaction meant anything, then Laric was more compatible that Fred and George, he was more compatible than _Fionn_ had been during their Courtship. He wished he had someone to ask, but Laric was out of the question for obvious reasons, Ash even if she was here, would have a field day with this. He could ask Gideon he supposed, but he didn't see much of him, and he _certainly_ wasn't going to ask the twins what _they_ had been told about this stuff. 

He realized they weren't dancing anymore, and looked up in surprise to find he was being led out of the crowd. Laric pursed his lips, and gave a loud whistle, waving at Fred and George. As the others gathered around them again, Laric led them off with only a cryptic comment.

"I wish to show you something you haven't seen yet, and may get the chance to learn if you keep up with your current studies."

They arrived at the park they frequented while living with Ash, and looked around curiously. There was a small crowd standing in one of the open areas, and all of them were standing looking up into the sky. Harry raised his eyes to see what was so interesting and forgot to breathe for a moment. There in the sky above them, were 9 Air Demons. They were flying in intricate patterns around each other almost like a dance. A few of them had long ribbons in bright gold and silver, and they were weaving through the others. It was beautiful, and Laric said they may get to learn this?

"Air Demons are the best fliers, they can shift the air currents to where they wish them to be, but all of us can fly. You may never reach the skill of this group, but you three will learn to fly once you have full control over your elemental powers."

They watched the Air Demons for a while, until all 9 finally touched the ground lightly and bowed or curtsied to the crowd. As Harry moved to get a better look now that they were closer, he accidentally knocked into Laric. As the Warrior reached to steady him, he brushed by Harry's wings again. And again, there was that very strong jolt running through him. Harry's lips parted in surprise, and he looked up at the Warrior. Laric's own eyes widened slightly as he took in the look on Harry's face, and then he blanked his own face, shaking his head slightly.

"You are far too young, and while you are not _my_ Vorthr, you are currently my responsibility. It is not a good idea, nor is it right." Laric spoke softly, so only Harry would hear him.

"I asked for nothing. It isn't my fault my reaction was stronger to you than it was to my own mate during our Courtship!" Harry hissed softly, just as loath for the others to hear this, especially Fionn. He hated to think what the Fae would think if he heard that Harry reacted stronger to Laric than to him before their bonding! "Besides, Courtships are supposed to be there to help figure out this stuff, age has nothing to do with it. And it isn't like you asked to Court me, nor have I asked to Court you."

Laric looked at him for a long moment, and then inclined his head slightly. "I apologize if I have offended you. It was not my intent."

Harry frowned slightly, but noticed Fionn was starting to turn towards them so gave a quick nod and smoothed his expression as the golden-haired Fae bounded up and snuggled into his arms.

"That was beautiful, I wish I could fly. But I would not wish to go through any of the ways that Gift might be given to me." Fionn's voice was slightly wistful.

"After I have learned, I will take you flying with me." Harry promised with a smile. His only response was a happy gleam in the golden eyes as Fionn kissed him softly.


	35. Fun and Games (Festival Day 5)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6 Sickles is approximately $3, at least according to what I could find on Google.
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta, Nicky Noodle. Without his suggestions, Fionn's bit would have been shorter in this chapter... *grins*

"Idiot." Gideon's voice came from the direction of the kitchen and Harry paused a moment feeling deja vu. Was he always going to overhear conversations while living with Laric? Shaking his head he decided to just walk in, better for them to know he was up and there than to eavesdrop again.

"He is currently my responsibility. It wouldn't be right." Laric sounded stiff, and a little ... Harry couldn't put his finger on it, regretful? That wasn't quite right...

"He told you his reaction to your touch was stronger than that of his own mate, and you shut him out, didn't you?" Gideon sounded exasperated, but Harry couldn't move. They were talking about _him_ , how could he possibly walk into the kitchen now? He stood frozen in the middle of the living room.

"He is so young... I'm 716 years older than he is. And my home hardly looks as if I could afford to take care of him, of them." Laric's voice definitely sounded sad now, and soft, Harry could barely hear him.

A derisive snort was heard. "I highly doubt Harry cares about your age, and we both know you've been squirreling away every knut you didn't need. You must have a small fortune by now, easily enough to care for a dozen mates. Just because one potential mate rejected you, doesn't mean they all will."

"He did not reject me Gideon. He doesn't realize I exist in that way, so I never asked to Court him." There was a moment of silence before Gideon spoke again.

"You never told me that, with how strongly you seemed to feel, I assumed you had at least _tried._ "

"There was no point, he made it quite clear that nothing would come of it. That was long ago, and while I will always have feelings for him, I made my peace with losing him in that way many years ago."

"Well, you'll have your work cut out for you if you decide to Court them now, I can't see Harry agreeing after what you did yesterday." Gideon laughed as Laric grumbled too quietly for Harry to hear, and then there was sudden silence. A long moment of silence followed by a curse from Gideon. "I have to go. Someone has tripped the wards around Lady Annalise's home."

Harry didn't know if he should continue on into the kitchen, or turn and flee back to the bedroom he shared with Fionn. The choice was taken from him however as a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around him from behind.

"Now what could Harry be doing standing in the middle of the living room?"

"I have no idea Forge, maybe he was hit with a petrificus totalus?" George poked Harry's left side, causing him to squirm and duck away from their arms.

His face a little red from the embarrassment of being caught, Harry raked a hand through his hair. "I was just thinking guys. Besides, like anything would _really_ be able to happen to us in the home of a Warrior?" He had felt the tingly jolt through his body when Fred and George touched him, but again, it wasn't nearly as strong as when Laric had done it. He was getting so confused! He had thought that Laric wasn't interested in him at all, because of the way he had responded to accidentally touching his wings. But the conversation he had overheard seemed to mean that Laric _was_ interested, but thought Harry would reject him. He also didn't want to do anything while Harry was dependent on him for a place to stay. But was he actually interested in Laric that way? Harry was snapped back into focus as a hand waved back and forth in front of his face.

"Harry? Harry! Time to wake up Harrykins!" Fred was standing directly in front of him, waving his hands around exaggeratedly to get his attention. He could just see George looking worried off to Fred's right, and quickly shook his head to order his thoughts.

"Sorry guys. I guess I'm not as awake as I thought yet." He put on his best sheepish expression, and allowed them to herd him into the kitchen.

Fionn hurried into the kitchen and slid into the seat to Harry's right a few moments after Harry was settled. Fred and George were across the table from them, and Laric was turning off the stove. The Warrior put plates in front of each of them, and then sat at the end closest to Harry and Fred. There was no sign of Gideon, so Harry supposed he had used Shadow to leave the kitchen and go wherever it was he had gone off to. 

After they finished eating, Laric guided them into an area of the Festival devoted to games. It looked like what one might see in a Muggle fairground, except twisted to fit those who lived in the Realm. There were booths of all kinds, most with lots of people waiting in line to try their luck. The closest one had a row of 10 metal fish with poles sticking through them like a carousel horse. Water Demons were lining up, and when a bell was rung, they would shoot a stream of water at a small hole in the bottom of one of the poles and the fish would start rising to the top. One in the middle of the row got her fish to the top before the others and won a prize.

Fred hurried over and stood in front of the first fish in the row, George following and taking up the 2nd spot.

"That'll be 6 sickles each." The Water Demon in charge of the game held out his hand and Fred dropped the money into it for both himself and George.

3 other Water Demons got into line and paid, and then the bell was ringing! Fred and George each held out their right hands with fingers splayed, and water shot out from their spread fingers. The fish started rising, wobbling a little as they did so, but all 5 fish were rising at a steady rate. Fred was in third place, with George just a hairsbreadth behind him. He was determined to win something for George however, and his eyes narrowed in concentration. The water gushing from his hand became a narrower, more powerful stream and he locked his elbow to keep his arm steady. Slowly his fish moved to second place, and then was only half an inch from taking first place when the other fish hit the top of the pole, winning the game. Shoulders slumping, he closed his hand, cutting the water off in midstream.

"Bollocks!"

Harry laughed at the look on the twins' faces. "Maybe next time guys, you _were_ awfully close Fred!"

They moved on to the next booth, this one had a large wading pool filled with little boats and a path marked by flags. Air Demons were racing the boats along the path to the finish line. The one after that was a ring toss, like the Muggles would have. Followed by a booth with balloons attached to the back with people throwing darts at them. The last one on their side was obviously meant for Fire Demons. It had more balloons, but these were attached to small baskets with a candle inside and positioned directly under the balloon. They looked like miniature hot air balloons, and the object seemed to be to get them to rise to the top of the booth without popping the balloon.

Harry approached and paid 6 sickles, along with a few other Fire Demons. When the bell rang, he concentrated on the flame in his basket, willing the fire to burn hotter but not higher than it was. The basket wobbled as it slowly rose in the air, the flame on the candle changing colors as he concentrated on it. First the normal yellow-orange flame, then it took on a greenish tinge, and slowly started turning blue. As the flame changed colors, the wax of the candle started melting faster and faster. The candle shrank quickly, but the balloon rose equally fast. One of the other Fire Demons managed to get his flame too close to the balloon and it caught fire, the basket crashing to the ground. Another was hot on Harry's heels, her flame not quite as blue as Harry's was, but her basket was catching up to him fast. Harry's eyes narrowed, and he willed his flame to grow taller to make up for the fact that his candle was rapidly shrinking. Just before the last bit of candle was consumed, his balloon brushed the ceiling, and then it plummeted to the ground below.

"Congrats! You won a prize! Pick anything off this shelf." The Fire Demon who ran the booth smiled at him, and waved her hand to the shelf behind her. It held many different stuffed toys, none larger than 8 inches tall. Harry turned to Fionn and smiled.

"Pick one Fi."

Fionn looked at the shelf, his golden eyes flicking along the row as he considered. Finally he pointed at a white teddy bear. It had a red ribbon around it's neck, tied in a bow, and the pads of each foot as well as it's nose were a matching red. The Fire Demon plucked it from the shelf and tossed it to Fionn before turning back to her customers. Fionn snuggled the bear, rubbing the soft fabric across his cheek before turning and giving Harry a quick kiss. As they wandered along, watching others play the games and occasionally playing one themselves, their stash of stuffed toys grew. Laric even took a turn at one of the dart booths, winning another bear. This one was a dark blue with a light blue ribbon and light blue paw pads. He looked at each of them a moment, and then held the bear out to Harry with a small half-smile. Harry blushed, he wasn't sure why, but took the bear dropping his eyes from the ice blue eyes of the Warrior.

Fionn approached one of the booths and spoke softly to the white-haired Fae who ran it. After a moment of listening, she nodded and Fionn smiled brightly. Taking a few steps back to look at the booth, the golden-haired Fae raised his hands with the palms facing the booth. Seconds later, illusionary fireworks started shooting from the top of the booth in all the colors of the rainbow. A small crowd began to form, and the white-haired Fae quickly began taking their money. As she handed out what looked like ping-pong balls to the paying crowd, she also handed 3 of them to Fionn. He picked them up, and looked at the stack of cups on the platform across from him, there were 6 of them stacked in a pyramid shape. Throwing the first ball, he knocked off the cup on the top. The second ball felled 2 more, and the third only knocked one down leaving 2 left standing.

"Oh too bad! 4 still wins a prize, though a smaller one." She smiled and pointed at a few necklaces made of brightly colored plastic beads.

Fionn looked them over, and pointed at one that seemed to be made up of 2 twisted strands. One was red and the other was bright blue. Carefully untwisting them so he now held 2 necklaces, he slid the red one over Harry's head with a happy smile. The blue one he looked at a moment, and then took a shy step towards Laric and held it up to the Warrior.

Laric's eyes widened slightly, and he glanced at Harry then back at Fionn. After a moment, he bent his knees and bowed his head so the Fae could slip the necklace over his head. Fionn did so, and then turned back to Harry with a look that quite clearly said he approved.

About the time they were deciding where to go for lunch, there was a strange sound. It was almost a whistle, but not like anything Harry had ever heard. They all stopped and looked around as the whistling noise grew louder, and then Laric was standing in front of them with his wings spread as though expecting an attack. The noise grew louder yet, air rushing past them and blowing their hair and clothes around. Just when they started to stagger back from the force of it, a body was dropped about 5 feet in front of them. The person was trussed in so much rope it was hard to tell what species they were, the only visible parts were from the nose up. He or she was either dead or unconscious, they didn't move from where they had landed on the ground. And there appeared to be something branded into their forehead. Harry leaned around Laric slightly for a better look. There, in thick black ink, were the words "Incompetent Idiot".

Laric yanked Harry back behind himself, and then brought his hand forward, conjuring a message light. "Message for Gideon Reed. A body has appeared in the middle of the Festival Games. Status unknown. Assistance requested immediately." Flicking his fingers out, he sent the message light speeding away. "Stay put, don't go any nearer or wander off. We don't know what has happened or if there is anyone waiting to attack." Wings still spread wide, he stalked forward and circled the body one full circle, about 2 feet away from it. 

When the circle was complete, Harry could feel the pressure of a rising storm and the soft _zap!_ noise of lightning crackling. And then there was a perfect circle of contained lightning surrounding the area the body was in. To keep the gawkers away Harry supposed. He ran a hand down Fionn's back absently as he watched Laric pace around the circle again. He wondered if the person was still alive under all the rope, and what they had done to deserve having the words branded on their head.

It seemed like no time had gone by at all when Gideon stepped from Shadow, followed by at least 6 other Warriors. As they approached Laric, the Warrior pulled down his lightning field so they could reach the body laying on the grass. Two knelt down and started removing the rope, the other four tried to disperse the growing crowd. When the person was finally bare of rope, Harry saw it was either an Incubus or a Fae. He couldn't tell from this distance, and with the eyes closed.

"He's alive. And the magical signature matches that found at the Lady of the Air's home this morning." One of the kneeling Warriors spoke. He was a Shadow Demon, the other kneeling Warrior was an Air Demon.

"So this is the famous Shadow? I expected more somehow." The Air Demon spoke disdainfully.

"Obviously this is _not_ the Shadow. The Shadow hides their trace much better, and I highly doubt they would allow someone to brand them the way this Incubus was." Gideon snapped. "Think with your head, not your anger at what might have been."

"Then who is this? And how did they end up in this state?" The Air Demon demanded.

"That, is what we need to find out. Let's take him to the Council, they will wish to question him." Gideon motioned to the other Warriors and once everyone was in place, with the prisoner held tightly in the middle, he invoked Shadow with a slight nod to Laric, and then they were gone.


	36. Ash Returns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks go to my wonderful beta Nicky Noodle.
> 
>  
> 
> "pallium, a facie mea:" means "cloak my presence" in latin, at least according to Google.

Harry stared unseeing at the space the Warriors had just been standing. He wondered if that Incubus had been the reason Ash had been gone so long, and if so, what he could possibly have wanted with the Lady of the Air's daughter. The way he had arrived, certainly was flashy and mysterious enough for Ash to have done it. And the words written on his forehead fit Ash as well. He hoped she would return soon, he actually missed her antics a little bit...

 

****

Meanwhile, Five Days Ago...

Ash was sleeping soundly, dreaming about all she was going to show Harry and his friends for their first Festival. An annoying buzzing sound intruded on her happy dream, and she ignored it, trying to go back to the sights and sounds of the Festival. The buzzing sound grew louder, and she felt herself losing her hold on the dream. Something seemed to be buzzing around her face, brushing her nose and cheeks lightly with a faint feel of magic. Plotting gruesome torture ideas for whatever was taking her from her dreams, she cracked one eye open and froze a moment. Closing her eye and rubbing both of them to try to wake herself up a bit, she opened her eyes again. The light blue message light was still there, bobbing and buzzing just in front of her face.

Well, she wasn't going to take any jobs during the Festival. So whomever had sent her one in the drop box would just have to deal with a refusal. She held out a hand and the message light settled into her palm. Having expected the usual "You have a job offer" automatic message she had set up to alert her when anything was put into her drop box, she was surprised to hear Mikhail's voice instead.

He sounded worried, which was highly unusual for him. And then what he was saying actually sank in as the message light faded, its message over. Ash sat stunned for a few seconds, and then she was leaping out of bed ignoring the pillow falling off of it, and the covers that nearly followed the pillow to the floor. Yanking open her dresser, she pulled out clean clothes and changed quickly. Then she grabbed a sack from under the bed, and started throwing things inside. Anything she didn't think she would need was tossed onto the top of her dresser, or left to spill over the drawers themselves. Slinging the sack over her shoulder she strode to her bedroom door and then paused halfway into the hallway.

Harry. Fionn. Fred and George. She couldn't just leave them, they still needed her. But the message she had received... If she didn't go and find the one trying to frame her... She didn't even want to _think_ about what might happen to poor little Valara, the child was barely 6 years old. She shook her head, if she didn't go and stop this, it was possible that she would be found out as the Shadow. The fact that she hadn't actually done anything to Valara wouldn't matter, she could be tried for it regardless. She _had_ to go. Harry and the rest still had Gideon and Laric to turn to, and if they were as smart as she thought they were, _someone_ would remember to go to Pepper. Closing her eyes a moment, she concentrated, letting the power she was calling build up. A bright light started glowing in the area of her chest, and then it expanded slowly to cover her entire body. " _pallium, a facie mea:_ " She whispered, and the light sank into her skin and vanished.

 

****

Present Time

Laric came back towards the group, a small worry line between his brows that he quickly smoothed back out. "Shall we try having lunch again?"

Harry's tummy gave a quiet rumble and Fred laughed. "Harry's tummy has spoken! Onto the food!"

Harry felt himself blushing as the rest of the group laughed or smiled. He was still curious about how that Incubus had gotten there, but knew he wouldn't get any answers about it at the moment. After all, Laric didn't know anything more than the rest of them did right now. Sliding an arm around Fionn's waist, he allowed himself to be herded towards the food stalls. It certainly _smelled_ good, and he wondered what kind of Festival foods there would be. If he would recognize any of them from previous outings or the Wizarding/Muggle realm.

 

****

Early That Morning...

Ash was beyond pissed. She had followed this idiot around for over 3 days now, and she had _no idea_ how he had managed to not get caught before. He didn't seem to have noticed the fact that he was being followed. He didn't know where all the guards were posted, he had almost walked right into a patrol on more than one occasion! And _this_ was supposed to be pretending to be _her??_

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. She would make an example, that was all. The idiot would never work another day, and hopefully the rest of the incompetents would get it through their thick skulls not to ever try anything like this again. Opening her eyes, she focused immediately on her target. He was actually going to try to open the child's window with a _crowbar?!_ If she hadn't been following him around so closely, she would be starting to think the idiot was being set up by someone. But she had found no evidence of that so far, he was just _that_ stupid.

Narrowing her eyes, she called up Air and crooked a finger in his direction before pulling it back towards herself. A moment later, the Incubus was snatched off the wall and was sailing her direction with a muffled yelp. Ash quickly called Air again as he was in transit to her, and the moment he landed at her feet, she was grabbing his arm and invoked Air. By the time the guards were swarming the area, there was nothing left to be seen but a few leaves skittering along the street.

They appeared in a dimly lit stone room. There were no windows, and only one door, a set of manacles dangled from the wall across from the door. Ash dragged the Incubus to the wall and chained him there before he had time to orient himself. Then she stepped back into the shadows a bit. She had covered her wings and face with soot to hide their coloring, her silver-blonde hair was wrapped securely in a black cap so none showed. And in the dim light, she appeared to be little more than a shadow herself. Or perhaps a Wraith, with bright green eyes.

The Incubus gaped and then began to tremble slightly. "Wh-what do you want?"

Ash laughed, and it sounded strangely distorted. She had used a spell to conceal her voice, combined with the soot, she was genderless, hard to see clearly, and altogether terrifying. "Who hired you to kidnap Valara?" She whispered.

"N-no one. It was m-my idea."

"Come now. We both know you are too stupid to have come up with this on your own. You didn't even realize I was trailing you for days!" She laughed again as he shrank back against the wall. "Who paid you?"

"N-no one. P-please! Let me g-go!"

Shaking her head in disgust, Ash moved to a small table near the door and pulled the cloth off the tray on top of it. Gleaming silver instruments lay in neat rows, as well as a few bottles of variously colored liquids. She lifted one and turned it so what little light was in the room gleamed from the wickedly sharp point on the end.

"I guess we are doing this the hard way then..." Ash smiled brightly as the Incubus whimpered.

 

****

After Lunch With Harry And The Rest...

Feeling pleasantly full, Harry was content to stroll around the vendors again with the others. Some of the booths he had seen before, others were new to him. They wandered by one that was selling shining knives and swords, each one laid out on a black cloth. Another was selling brightly colored scarves, some of which had little bells or flat pieces of metal stitched to them so they chimed softly. Pausing to laugh at Fred and George's antics, he almost missed Laric talking to the owner of a third booth. This one seemed to sell mostly jewelry, but also had a few metal gauntlets and other things Harry didn't know the names of. Deciding either Laric was getting something for Gideon or Herne, or was just friends with the vendor, Harry turned back to his friends. Shaking his head, he had to laugh. Fred was decked out in a few of the scarves and was doing a dance around George, who was pretending to ignore him with his nose in the air.

 

****

Early That Afternoon...

Ash examined the tattoo on the forehead of the Incubus. It read "Incompetent Idiot" in block letters. The ink she had used was permanent, infused with spells so it could neither be removed nor concealed. Her prisoner had been a blubbering mess before even the first letter had been completed, willing to tell her anything and everything. Except that which she most wished to know. The name of his employer. Whomever it was, had covered their tracks well. The Incubus didn't know his or her name, had never seen their face. All he knew was that he had been hired to deliver Valara at a specific time and place. He had also been spelled in such a way that the person behind it all would know the moment he had been caught. Ash growled in frustration. All this work, and she still had no answers and no way of getting them. But perhaps Gideon might know of a way to track down the employer? She knew Warriors were out in force for the Festival, every Lord and Lady had been informed of the kidnapping threat. So all she had to do was get their attention....

Wrapping the Incubus tightly from his toes to halfway up his face in rope, she made sure to leave him a little hole to breathe through. Then paced around him checking both her work, and the fact that she had left nothing of herself behind. Once she was finally satisfied that she could not be traced through him, she lifted a hand and called Air. Twisting the currents tightly, she wove a small tornado and centered it on the Incubus, then she focused her thoughts on the open area around the Festival Games and willed him to be dumped there. The wind picked up, making a howling and shrieking noise, buzzing along the walls and snapping his hair in all directions. As the noise rose, so did the body before her, spinning end over end it hung suspended in the air in front of her a long moment, and then seemingly was _sucked_ through nothingness and was gone.

Ash swayed slightly on her feet, it had been a long hunt, and she had expelled a lot of magic. All she wanted was a shower and sleep, but she also didn't wish to miss out on any more of the Festival than she had to. And Harry and the others were out there somewhere, it would be amusing to appear as though nothing had happened... A smile curled her lips as she invoked Air again to go home and clean up. A little fun was exactly what she needed right now.

 

****

Present Time

As Harry laughed, he felt someone come up behind him and then a pair of hands were clapped over his eyes. Tensing he twisted quickly trying to get away from whomever was grabbing him. And then he heard a musical giggle and froze again. "Ash?"

"Awww.... You spoiled my fun! I was hoping it would take you longer than that!" The hands fell away and he turned to see Ash pouting at him, hands on her hips as her eyes sparkled with laughter. "You aren't sick of the Festival yet I hope, I haven't gotten to drag you to all my favorite places yet!" As she finished speaking, she suddenly had an armful of Harry as he hugged her tightly. And then Fionn, Fred and George were surrounding her as well, calling out her name in happy voices.

"We missed you. You could at least have left us a note Ash! I think you worried Pepper as well." Harry frowned slightly, but did not release his hold on Ash.

"I know, I'm sorry. It was a last minute job and I was going to refuse it, but then it turned out to be a bit of an emergency and I couldn't say no. Didn't have time to do more than grab my stuff and leave. And I knew you lot were smart enough to go to Pepper or one of the Guides." She nodded in Laric's direction.

Harry sighed. "Did you at least finish? Or will you have to go back to work again soon?" He couldn't ask too much in front of Laric, but he wanted some answers if he could get any. 

"I did all I could for the moment. I may have to go back to work later, but I won't know for a while yet." Ruffling Harry's hair she looked at Fred and George. "Is my house still standing? Windows intact? Nothing burnt or flooded?"

"Hey! We aren't _that_ bad!" Fred pretended outrage, a hand clutching his chest.

"You blew up your room. Twice. Flooded the kitchen, and I don't want to know how the mark on the hallway ceiling happened." Ash said drily.

"Well, you never use the kitchen. I still think it would be wicked to have an indoor swimming pool..." George snickered.

"And to think I was missing all of you. Maybe I'll just keep Harry and Fionn, and the two of you can stay with Laric."

"M'lady! Why am _I_ being punished?!" Laric gasped, though his ice blue eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Oi! That hurt Ash! I can't believe you would say such a thing about us." Fred turned puppy eyes on her, and George rested his chin on Fred's shoulder from behind to give her the exact same look.

"Oh very well! I suppose you two can keep living with me. If you must."

The air was filled with whoops of joy from Fred and George, as well as Harry and Ash's laughter. Fionn smiled brightly to have everyone back together again, and Laric watched over them all.


	37. What Does It Mean? (Festival Day 6 - Morning)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So SO sorry it took me so long to update! RL got in the way. Finally got my computer and internet set up again after moving and other things. Thank you to everyone who messaged and left reviews, they mean a lot and I hope you will forgive my absence!
> 
> Also, thank you as always to my wonderful beta Nicky Noodle.

Harry woke early the next morning and looked around a moment in confusion, before realizing he was back in the bedroom at Ash's house. He lay for a few moments, just staring at the ceiling without really seeing it. He was thrilled that Ash was back, and that everyone was living in her house again instead of being moved from place to place. It was comforting really, having somewhere he could really call _home_ , even though it belonged to someone else. For so long, Hogwarts had been the only real home he had. And now he had a home here with Ash, though in some ways he supposed his true home was Fionn. As strange as that sounded, a person as your home? Shaking his head slightly at his own thoughts, he glanced down at the top of the white-gold head resting on his chest.

The Fae was still slumbering peacefully, in his usual sprawl half-over Harry's body. Together, they took up just barely over half the bed space. And this was not just because they were both small and light of frame. Fionn seemed incapable of sleeping on his own side of the bed. If he wasn't draped over Harry before they both fell asleep, he surely would be by the time Harry woke up. It was a strange sensation to have his wings _inside_ the mattress, but he was grateful to whatever the charm was that allowed his wings to pass harmlessly through the furniture. It would be a lot less comfortable for Fionn to be sleeping on Harry's wings, and getting them tangled in the covers was not fun either.

Turning his thoughts away from the random tangent they had gotten on, Harry sighed softly. What was he going to do? He needed to know what the sensitivity strength was about. And in order to find out, he would have to ask someone. He supposed that if he took the gift he had gotten for Ash, he _might_ , be able to distract her with it if she decided to tease him too badly. He also had to figure out what exactly his feelings were for the Warrior. And what was going on in Fionn's head. Yesterday had been fun, but strange. The look the Fae had given him after giving Laric that strand of beads... They had barely finished their Courtship, had only been mated for a little over a week. Was it normal to go looking for another mate this soon? Or was Fionn... No, that was silly. As anxious as the Fae had been about _Harry_ not wanting him, he couldn't believe that Fionn had changed his mind about _him._

Deciding that this was getting him nowhere, Harry began the careful business of extracting himself from the bed and Fionn without waking him. By the time he finally managed it, and had moved his pillow into the path of seeking arms, he was wide-awake. Pausing only long enough to grab the small velvet pouch that contained Ash's gift, he left the room and went in search of his Guide.

She was busy re-arranging things on one of the shelves in the sitting room, humming softly to herself, silver-blonde hair glinting in the faint sunlight. Harry paused in the doorway to watch her a moment, even though he knew what he needed to ask, he had no idea how to say it.

"Lurking in doorways is rude." Ash's voice was bubbly with amusement, though she did not turn around from what she was doing.

"I, uh... I have a question." Harry raked a hand through his hair, and felt his face flushing even though he had yet to say anything embarrassing.

"Only one?" Spinning around to face the doorway, her smile was bright until she noticed the look on Harry's face. "Is everything all right? Fionn's not sick is he? The twins haven't destroyed anything already?"

"No, no! Everything's fine! It's just... I have a question about wings..." He trailed off a little helplessly. How was he going to say this?

"No flying lessons until you've mastered your Fire lessons." Ash waggled a finger at him, the smile returning to her face.

"Er, it's not that..." This was _So_ not going well. Harry shifted his feet and dropped his eyes before just blurting it out. "What does wing sensitivity mean? I mean, in regards to others touching your wings? Like, strengths of sensitivity and stuff?" The faint flush he had felt on his cheeks before, was nothing to the raging fire he felt in his face now. And he seemed to have shocked Ash, as she stood there silently a moment, absolutely still.

"What _were_ you up to while I was gone? Never mind, I don't know if I really want to know the answer to that." Waving him into a chair, Ash moved to sit near him. "Well, you know that compatibility as far as potential mates can be gauged by the feeling you get when your wings are touched?"

Harry nodded silently.

"The fainter the sensations you get, the less compatible the person is. And of course, depending on who you are mated to at the time, the strength of the sensations will change. So someone who was very compatible before you mated to Fionn, may no longer be compatible at all. Because he, or she, may not mesh well with Fionn. On the other hand, someone who was only somewhat compatible before, may be very compatible now if they have qualities that would mesh well with Fionn as well as you. And as you add more mates, more variables will be thrown into it. It's possible to find someone that your wings tell you is perfect for you, but won't really fit as well into your current mateship. But that doesn't happen all that often. And of course, the stronger the sensation, the better the match." Ash paused to see if Harry was following, then leaned forward a bit. "Did you run into someone at the Festival? Do I know them?"

"Not exactly? And, y--" Harry cut himself off. Should he tell her who it was? He'd definitely never hear the end of it if he did... "It was accidental. I was just startled because..." He paused and looked towards the doorway, listening to see if he could hear movement. He did _not_ want Fionn to hear this. "The feeling was so strong Ash. Way stronger than it ever was with Fionn before we mated." He was surprised she was talking about this so seriously, but maybe it was because it was important Guide-duties stuff?

Ash leaned back again and looked thoughtful. "Stronger than during your Courtship as well?" He nodded. "Hmmm.... Then I would say, this person is compatible with both you and Fionn on more than one level. Magical, personality, dominance, or some mixture of all three. What was their reaction? Did they notice?"

"He noticed the second time, not sure about the first. And he didn't seem very happy about it." Harry chewed his lip. Should he tell her who it was? Maybe she could help him figure out what he should do. Though just from what she'd said so far, it sounded like he should try to Court Laric. If of course, Fionn wanted him in their mateship? But he was still getting used to having a mate at all, was he ready to try to add another person? And Fionn was so broken still, it might make him think Harry didn't want him anymore if he were to bring it up...

"Not happy? Was he in a closed mateship?"

"No..." Sighing, Harry dropped his head a bit, might as well get it over with... "It was Laric. And he said that I'm too young. And that it wasn't right because he was looking after us. But I didn't even say anything to him! He just shut me down and I didn't even do anything other than look at him in surprise because of the touch! It's not like I had any idea why it was happening, or had any plans of asking him to Court me." A thread of anger laced his words as he remembered. Sure, the Warrior had seemed to be trying to apologize with the toys he won them, but the fact that he had felt the need to refuse him when Harry hadn't even been going to _ask_ anything along those lines still annoyed him.

"Ah! So that's the way of things!" Ash laughed, the silvery notes cutting through Harry's thoughts. "I knew you would end up with a Warrior at some point! Laric is a good choice, he's calm and steady enough to take care of you and Fionn, but has enough mischief in him to keep things from getting dull. He's also old,--" seeing Harry about to object, she held up a finger before continuing. "which means he was raised in a time when honor was more important than it seems to be now. There's no way he would have started anything with you while he was responsible for you. It would have seemed dishonorable to him. Now that you are back under my roof however..." She winked at him and bounced from her chair, pulling him up with her. "You _are_ going to Court him, aren't you?"

"I don't know. I haven't talked to Fionn about it at all, I just wanted to know what the sensations meant first before I did something that might upset him." Hearing the faint sound of footsteps down the hall, Harry hurried to hold out the velvet bag and change the conversation. "I got this for you, thought it represented you perfectly."

Ash snatched it from his hand and pulled open the drawstring. As she withdrew the small unicorn figurine, her eyes widened. The unicorn pranced around in her palm, tossing its mane and making silent whinnies as the slow change from brilliant white to darkest black and back again happened. Her green eyes shimmered a bit, as though she was near tears, and then she was hugging him tightly as Fred and George entered the room. "I love it! Thank you!"

"Mushy stuff before breakfast? I thought better of you than that Ash!"

"Yeah! Though, as long as we don't have mushy stuff _for_ breakfast, we might let it slide this time." George grinned as Ash mock-glared.

"I'll have you two know, there is no mushy stuff before or during breakfast. There might not even _be_ any breakfast if you keep that up."

"Oi! No starving the Vorthr! You're supposed to be watching out for us, not trying to kill us!" Fred looked wounded a moment, and then snickered.

"Ah, but you aren't _my_ Vorthr. Harry and Fionn can have breakfast with me, you two I may just ship off to Gideon and Laric. Or, make you watch the rest of us eat. That might teach you to be nice to me."

"Ash!" Both twins whined in unison and gave her puppy dog eyes.

"Oh very well. I suppose I will feed all of you. Go get ready, and we'll do breakfast and decide where to go. There's only two days left of the Festival now after all!"


	38. Parade (Still day 6)

Ash dragged them all over the Festival, it didn't matter if they had already seen most things with Laric, she was making them do it all again with her. It was like hanging out with a whirlwind, the moment they stopped to look at something with her, or catch their breaths, she was dragging them off again. It only stopped when she pulled them into a crowd, and wove her way to the front. They were standing along a wide street, Harry wasn't sure where as he hadn't really had time to get his bearings. There were people lined up along both sides of the street as far as he could see in both directions, all of them were chattering to themselves and looking off along the street to Harry's right.

"Er, Ash? What are we doing here?"

"The parade is due to start soon! Had to be sure we got a good spot. You haven't seen any of the parades yet have you? This is one of the best ones, they saved it til nearly the end on purpose, I think they do it so no one leaves early." Ash laughed and winked at Harry before bouncing on her toes to see if anything was happening yet.

Fionn leaned against Harry's side, his white-blonde hair tickling Harry's neck. He looked at him fondly a moment, he had no idea how the Fae did it, Fionn was technically _taller_ than Harry was by about two inches, but he always managed to seem smaller somehow. Fred and George were slumped together on Harry's left, the two were for once too tired to get into any mischief. Ash had really run all of them ragged trying to make up for having lost 5 days of dragging them around the Festival.

As Harry glanced down the street again, he noticed a movement in the distance, and a faint noise. Gradually it got louder and clearer and he could see the beginning of the parade coming towards them. A group of 15 Warriors led the parade, they were a mixed group of Demons from all 6 elements. Their uniforms were a solid light grey with silver edging, and each one held an unsheathed sword that rested on their right shoulders. They marched in step and saluted the crowd with the swords as they came by, which caused cheers to arise.

"City guard." Ash said, her voice just reaching Harry's ears.

The air grew warmer, almost unbearably so, and smoke curled upwards in small spirals. The group of 16 who approached were all wearing red and black uniforms, no weapons were in their hands, but they were all dripping with Fire. The Fire merged and blended making a solid ring of protection surrounding a stocky Fire Demon with short black hair. He was powerfully built with a wide chest, narrow waist and defined muscles in his arms and legs. A gold-colored metal circlet rested on his head, with a red and black stone centered on his forehead. As they passed, animals made of Fire sprouted from his hands. A dragon and a firebird cavorted in the air briefly before the flames were consumed, a salamander crawled across the Demon's arms and vanished, a phoenix sprang to life and sang a silent song. Harry stared amazed at the control the Fire Demon was demonstrating.

"Lord Kyden, Lord of the Flame. And his Guards." Ash's voice cut through Harry's thoughts. "One day you may be able to do similar things, you're powerful enough. You just need the control."

A strong breeze blew, shifting the hot air currents left by the Fire Demons. This next group of 16 wasn't walking, they were _flying._ The aerial show Harry had seen with Laric earlier in the Festival was made up of amateur children compared to this group. They flew over, under and through each other as the other group had done, but they also dived straight down and skimmed the stone of the street. Came within inches of hitting the crowd, tossed what looked like small glass marbles to each other in a strangely graceful game of catch. And the most delicate looking Demon of any Harry had ever seen, also seemed to be the most daring. As she skimmed through the air, one of the marbles fell straight down, folding her wings and shooting down like a stooping hawk, she caught it just as it brushed the stones in the street. She had blonde hair, and very pale almost white skin. Her wings were an ice blue and white, and on her head rested a gold-colored metal circlet similar to Lord Kyden's. Only hers had a blue and white stone.

"Lady Annalise, Lady of the Air. And her Guards. I was not sure if she would join the Parade due to the threat to her daughter."

Behind the Air Guard, came 16 Water Demons. Water spouted up between their fingers like spray from a fountain, rising and falling. And then it merged, swirling to make a waterspout which exploded showering the crowd with water. A few of the Water Demons made what appeared to be balls of Water form in their palms, and then they played a quick game of catch, throwing the balls from one to another before allowing the balls to dissipate. The center most Water Demon was old-looking, he had lines on his face around his eyes and mouth. For beings who were immortal, Harry wondered just how old this Demon was to look so old. Laric was over 700, and he appeared to be in his early 30's. This man looked like he was in his mid-50's. He had auburn hair, and was of average build. Neither slender nor muscled, not fat or thin, totally ordinary looking.

"Lord Aenon, Lord of the Water and his Guards."

Earth Demons followed the Lord of Water. The ground trembled beneath their feet, as though a small earthquake was happening. Their powers weren't as flashy as the others, but perhaps that was because it was more dangerous to show off? Harry wasn't sure. The one in the middle had curly brown hair, and was short and stocky. He wasn't heavily muscled, but he looked sturdy and strong. By his side walked one of those black cat-like creatures that Harry had only seen with Djinn so far. This one walked calmly beside the Earth Demon, no collar or leash in sight, just a hand resting on its neck as it paced beside him.

"Lord Lyndon, Lord of the Earth and his Guards."

Dark clouds gathered overhead, a light breeze blew through the crowd, and the heavy feeling of a thunderstorm grew. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled, and out stepped the Storm Demons. More lightning crackled between their wings, arcing from one to another almost like a dangerous game of tag. The one in the middle was an older woman with curling brown hair that had a white streak running from her left temple. She was slender, though not delicate as the Lady of the Air had been. She appeared to have a wiry kind of strength to her, and as she lifted her hands, lightning shot from the clouds above her to strike her palms. As she looked out at the crowd, Harry could just see that her eyes appeared to have storm clouds in them. He couldn't tell what color they should be, her power was being channeled too strongly.

"Lady Dumisa, Lady of the Storm and her Guards."

As the Storm Demons passed, Harry looked around, he was guessing the Shadow Demons would be next as they were the only Demons left, but he didn't see them. In the distance he could see movement, but it was too far off for it to be the Shadow Demons. He was about to ask Ash what was going on, when the group of 16 appeared from nowhere. Stepping out from what appeared to be thin air, the moment all were assembled the shadows grew around them. Winding their way up each Demon like an inky black cloak, they drifted around them until all that was visible was the eyes. And then there was only a pool of blackness to be seen, a shadow so thick you could not see into or through it. Just as quickly the shadow thinned out again, leaving the Demons free to walk, but with wisps still clinging to them here and there. In the center was Lord Damien, with Gideon slightly behind and to his right. Gideon had a blank face with no emotion showing, but Harry somehow got the feeling that he was less than happy to be there. To Lord Damien's left, walked Nikolas, the Captain of the Shadow Guard had the same easy smile on his face as the last time Harry had seen him. He walked near enough to Gideon that their arms would occasionally brush, and while his eyes scanned the crowd for threats to his Lord, he spent almost as much time looking at Gideon.

After the Demons, walked a group of 4 Fae. They walked all together, with another cluster trailing them. These did not bother with the extensive displays, nor with circling themselves with Guards. Harry wondered if they were the Fae rulers or just other nobles? Behind them came a pair of tall men, as they grew closer he recognized Djuran and Rialyn. Djuran had a long-suffering look on his face as though it was taking all his patience not to smack his companion, while Rialyn looked smug about something. They did make a striking pair, Djuran's black skin and long black hair a sharp contrast to Rialyn's caramel skin and blood red braids, the amber beads catching in the light.

After they had passed, Ash grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him off through the crowd again.

"Ash! There was still more of the parade to see, where are you dragging us off to this time?"

"The rest isn't important, all the good stuff was the Lords and Ladies. Anyone else in the parade are nobles or other important city folk that were able to finagle their way into the parade. Nothing interesting left to see there." Ash gave an airy wave of the hand not still holding onto Harry, and ignored the question about where they were going. 

Harry still had an arm wrapped around Fionn's waist, and he chanced a quick look back to be sure Fred and George were still with them. They were, but didn't look any happier about being dragged off again than Harry was. When Ash finally stopped once more, Harry frowned in confusion. They weren't anywhere he would have imagined Ash would have an interest in. Everywhere he looked were... children. And their parents he supposed, but mostly this area seemed to be the children's activities area. He could see face painters, a few small rides for kids, games like bobbing for apples and what looked like a strange twist on hopscotch, some children were flying kites and others were racing around playing tag or some other high energy game. But, as far as he knew, Ash didn't have any friends with children. So why were they here?

As he turned to ask Ash, a small body collided with his legs and fell onto the ground with a soft _oof!_ The little girl looked up at him with wide blue eyes. She had rich brown hair that fell down her back in ringlets, and a pointed chin, a light scattering of freckles was across her nose. She was a Water Demon, her wings were a dark blue and light spring green. Harry was reminded slightly of someone, but he couldn't think who or why.

"I'm sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going. Daddy says I have to pay attention, but I keep forgetting." She hung her head as though expecting to get scolded.

"Kayla! How many times do I have to tell you to watch where you're going?" Herne jogged up, his voice and expression slightly exasperated, though with an indulgent undertone. Scooping Kayla up off the ground, he tossed her over his shoulder as she shrieked with laughter.

"I see you've met my youngest, this is Kayla. Her older brothers are running around here somewhere as well. Kayla, say hello to Harry, Fionn, Ash, Fred and George."

"Hello!" The little girl tried to squirm upright, but Herne kept a hand in the middle of her back, so she just waved at them, grinning broadly.

"She's the troublemaker of the bunch, I'm sure it's because she's the only girl. Airany swears it's because I spoil her, but I spoil all the children." He grinned and winked at them before hurrying off again as a shouted 'Dad!' got his attention.

"I love watching the kids, not really into having my own, but borrowing other people's children for a while can be fun." Ash laughed and skipped off to check out the face painting. 

Fred and George had already gone over to the kite flying area. Harry glanced at Fionn, and then sat down on the ground, more than ready for a rest. The Fae settled beside him, leaning against Harry's shoulder as was his wont. They watched the children playing for a while in silence before Harry cleared his throat.

"Fi? I was just wondering... What do you think of Laric? I mean, you gave him that set of beads and he gave you a teddy bear... Is that just something people do during the Festival? Friends I mean?" He had no idea why he was bringing it up now, watching the children was strangely peaceful, and the whole situation with Laric had been preying on his brain. 

Fionn hummed softly in thought, golden eyes watching Herne and Kayla splash each other near the apple bobbing. "Friends do usually give each other gifts during the Festival. But I also saw how he watches you when you aren't paying attention." He licked his lips and glanced up at Harry from the corner of his eyes. "He's interested in you, and me as well I think. Though I don't know why he'd be interested in me... He's a good dominant, he's protective without being controlling. He can handle Fred and George, and he's kind. We could do a lot worse."

Harry moved a bit to see Fionn's face better. "You wish to Court him?"

Fionn fidgeted a bit, playing with the grass under his fingers. "We need a dominant. I love you, you're perfect. But we need someone who can take care of both of us. Ash will eventually want us to move out, and I don't think we'd make it on our own. Laric makes me feel safe, like you do. And he's attracted to you, I could tell. He'd probably take me to get you." The last was said softly as Fionn ducked his head, letting his white-blonde hair fall into his eyes.

Harry put a finger under the Fae's chin and lifted his face gently until he could see the golden eyes again. They swam with emotion, the easiest to read was pain. "You are not a consolation prize Fi. If you think we should Court Laric, then we will. But only if he wants us both equally. I'll not have anyone in our mateship who doesn't love you as much as I do. Everyone has issues, it could be just as likely that he will love you and think I'm the 'extra' he has to take to get you. We won't know until we're Courting, if he even agrees to it. It's not like we _have_ to add anyone right now, I have more than enough money to take care of us. But either way, I love you. No one and nothing will change that, and I refuse to take anyone else as mate who doesn't see how special you are."

The golden eyes filled with tears as Fionn listened to Harry speak, a few finally trickling over and trailing down the pale golden skin. Harry leaned forwards and kissed Fionn gently, wiping away the tears with his thumbs as he did so. "No crying. You may still be getting over what that Djinn did to you, but you are perfect in my eyes. And anyone who doesn't see that is an idiot."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks go to my wonderful beta Nicky Noodle.
> 
> For those who are curious:
> 
> Kyden means "little flame"  
> Dumisa means "causes thunder" in Zulu  
> Aenon means "water spring" or "fountain" in Greek  
> Lyndon is a kind of tree (alternate spelling)


	39. Fireworks & Courtship

The Festival was finally winding down, tonight was the last of the events. A great many people had already left to return to their homes, it was not nearly as crowded as it had been even the day before. Many people still remained however, and so they had arrived at the park near Ash's house a little early.

Fred spread out the blanket, and Ash made it larger so there was room for all 5 of them to lay down on it if they so wished. George settled the hamper in the middle, and began to undo the latches to see what goodies Ash had purchased for them. Harry settled down on the opposite side of the blanket from Fred, and Fionn joined him. It had been another whirlwind of a day, and while they had enjoyed it, everyone was looking forward to the Festival ending. As George began passing out paper plates and napkins, Ash bounced to her feet.

"Save me some of the chicken, and a piece of the cherry pie. I'll be back before the fireworks start." She grinned and hurried off towards a pair of Gargoyles. One looked old, with grey hair and a slightly stooped posture. The other was younger, with light brown hair. They were both male, though no one Harry recognized.

What came out of the hamper mostly looked like normal Muggle picnic foods, and all of it smelled wonderful. Fried chicken, corn on the cob, ham sandwiches, potato salad, coleslaw, cookies of various kinds, cherry and apple pies. And a bowl of neon green... _somethings_. They were the size and shape of grapes, but they almost glowed. George poked one cautiously, and when nothing happened, he set it down near the other offerings with a shrug.

As Harry ate, he watched Ash and the Gargoyles. The older one at least, seemed to be a friend as Ash hugged him enthusiastically and appeared to be chattering at top speed about something. He stood there for a while listening, and then crossed his arms and shook his head at her. Ash actually seemed to _wilt_ under his stern expression and her wings drooped a bit. It was quite odd, if Harry didn't know any better, he would think she was getting dressed down about something like a small child who had misbehaved.

Finally, it was dark enough the fireworks could start. There were Fire Demons and Water Demons paired up all around the park, with small black metal tube like objects they were settling on the ground. The Fire Demon of each pair had a large stack of objects that they set aside near, but not too near, the tube. And the Water Demon stood on the opposite side of the tube. Possibly for damage control in case anything caught fire that wasn't supposed to? Harry wasn't really sure.

Laying back on the blanket, he almost missed Ash come back and lay down with them. Fionn's head was resting on his stomach, with Fred and George in a similar position at the top of the blanket. The noises around them died away as everyone got comfortable and stared up at the night sky. And then... The first burst of color exploded against the darkness. Brilliant streaks of yellow and pink lit up the sky and streaked down to the ground like falling stars.

A dragon made entirely of red and blue swooped through the sky, it's jaws open wide and spitting fire. Pinwheels, more fantastic beasts, falling stars... Harry had no idea so many things could be done with fireworks. Some reminded him of Muggle fireworks, but most of what he was seeing could not have been accomplished without magic. Birds formed and flew across the sky before exploding themselves and raining down, only to fizzle out a few feet above the heads of the laying crowd. Every color he could think of was in the light show above him, and many he didn't know the names of. It was beautiful, and he was sure he would be seeing them burst behind his eyelids as he fell asleep that night.

Finally the last of the fireworks was done, and people began getting up and packing their things away. No one moved on Ash's blanket yet, content to lay there and stare at the stars. And then a tall shape approached and stood near Harry and Fionn, waiting silently. Fionn sat up and looked curiously up, and then Harry sat as well. Trying to blink the after-images from his eyes, he finally rubbed with his hands and blinked rapidly before being able to see who was standing there.

Laric was waiting silently with his hands behind his back. He was dressed more formally than they were used to seeing him. Instead of the casual clothes he usually wore, he was wearing slacks and a dress shirt. His black hair was still done in Warriors braids that fell half-way down his back, and he almost looked nervous standing there all alone.

"Laric?" Harry stood up, wondering if there was something wrong.

"I had these made for you. Will you accept them?" He held out both hands, one to Harry and one to Fionn. In his right hand was a bracelet that seemed to glow in the starlight. It was delicately wrought, but with a masculine flare. Butterflies were woven into the pale gold metal, while gleaming silver held everything together. It was almost tribal in style. In his left hand was a simple pendant in the shape of a tear drop, but the feather inside literally seemed to be on fire. It was very warm to the touch, and as bright as the fireworks they had just seen. The chain was simple, but had the same glow as the metal in Fionn's bracelet.

Harry cradled the pendant in the palm of one hand and stared at it a moment, as Fionn traced his fingers over the butterflies in the bracelet.

"The feather is a firebird feather, freely given with a mithril chain. And the bracelet is made of mithril and Montbrayite." He shifted a little uncertainly as neither Harry nor Fionn had spoken after seeing the gifts.

Fionn glanced at Harry a moment before shifting slightly to lean against him. Harry's arm went around the Fae automatically, holding him close as he looked up into Laric's ice blue eyes. 

"Why are you giving us these? I don't know what Montbrayite is, but I know mithril isn't cheap, and firebirds are rare."

A faint pink appeared along Laric's cheekbones, but the Warrior didn't take his eyes off of Harry. "I wish to Court you, both of you. Will you allow my Courtship?"

"You turned me down flat only days ago. And I had not even hinted at Courtship then. Why are you asking us now?"

"You were my responsibility then. No matter my feelings on the matter, it would have been dishonorable to act as anything other than your Guardian while your Guide was away. To allow anything more than friendship then would have been akin to taking advantage of the situation for personal gain. I will never put either of you in a position where your honor or my own could be called into question."

Harry looked to Fionn, a question in his eyes. Yes, they had been talking about Courting the Warrior. But he hadn't expected it to happen this soon, or for Laric to ask them first! Was this still what the Fae wished?

Fionn smiled at Harry and leaned in to press a quick kiss to his lips before looking back to Laric. "I accept your token, and with it your Courtship." His voice was soft, but loud enough to carry to Laric's ears.

"I accept your token, and with it your Courtship." Harry echoed, then ran a hand through his hair. He was never going to get the hang of all these customs, at least he knew the proper words of acceptance this time though because Fionn said them first.

"Requested and Accepted, your Courtship has begun." Ash's voice fell into the brief silence, binding their Courtship with Laric as she had bound Harry and Fionn's.

Taking the necklace back from Harry, Laric opened the chain and slid it around Harry's neck. His fingers were warm as they brushed the skin of his neck and nape, fastening the chain into place. He then took the bracelet and fastened it around Fionn's right wrist. He had evidently paid enough attention to them to realize the Fae was left handed and that his gift would be better to be worn on the right.

Showing amazing tact for once, Ash whisked the twins away as well as the picnic things, leaving the newly Courting trio to a rapidly emptying park. Laric looked at them a moment, before holding out his hands in silent invitation.

Harry looked at the hands a moment, his stomach squirming slightly with nervousness. He had never really had anyone take care of him before, it had always been him taking care of himself or of others. Sirius had tried, but he was such a child still himself in so many ways, and they never really had that much time together. Ash looked after him and the others, but it was more a big sisterly kind of looking after. She expected them to do for themselves for the most part, except where her Guide duties fell. So it was still pretty much just him looking after himself and Fionn. Could he relax and let someone else take over? Did he know _how_ to step back and let Laric lead? He chewed his lip, eyes indecisive.

Fionn squeezed Harry's side gently, and then stepped slowly away to take one of Laric's outstretched hands. His hand seemed almost to be swallowed up because of the size difference as Laric's fingers closed over his own. He looked back at Harry, golden eyes worried, but didn't speak. He just held out his other hand silently.

Finally, after a long moment, Harry moved. He slowly placed his hand into Laric's, eyes looking down towards the grass at their feet. As the Warrior's fingers closed gently over his own, he felt warmth run through him. Warmth that matched the heat coming from the firebird feather that rested against his skin. It was a strange feeling, familiar and yet not. He felt safe, and he somehow knew that even though Laric was most definitely a dominant, he would never ever do anything Harry didn't agree to. As Harry relaxed, he also realized he could feel the Warrior in the back of his head faintly, and Fionn as well. The Courtship Bonds had well and truly taken, and he felt the relief that Laric felt because Harry had taken his hand. While it didn't show on the Warrior's face, he had apparently been as nervous about it as Harry had been. And somehow, that made Harry feel better about things. He looked up and gave the Warrior a shy smile, which was returned by both Laric and Fionn. Was this how Fionn felt, letting Harry make most of the decisions? He didn't think he could be completely submissive as Fionn was, but maybe not being in charge all the time would be good? Maybe this Courtship would turn out well after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to my beta, Nicky Noodle.
> 
> Montbrayite is a metal that really exists. It is so rare that it is only found in 5 mines anywhere on earth.


	40. First Lesson & First Date

Fionn and Harry were curled up together on the couch in the sitting room, just quietly chatting when they heard footsteps coming towards them. Fred and George were in their room plotting changes to their products to make them work on the people in the Realm. They wished to open up a branch of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in the Realm one day. Ash had been checking her house to be sure the twins hadn't harmed it in her absence. So they looked up curiously to see which of them was approaching.

Djuran had to duck his head a bit to enter the room, his red eyes fell on Harry and Fionn and he sighed softly.

"It seems Rialyn has mistaken me for a taxi service. I am to take Fionn to his first lesson, he _did_ at least inform you it was today?" Djuran's low voice fit the dark aura he gave off perfectly. 

Fionn looked at Djuran with wide golden eyes a moment before shaking his head and getting off the couch. "He just said 'after the Festival', but not when exactly."

The Djinn closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Muttering something under his breath that almost sounded like various ways to flay Rialyn.

"I can come now, we didn't have any plans..." Fionn whispered, eyes looking down at his feet. He wasn't sure he wanted to get close to a Djinn, but at least Djuran didn't look anything like Adzir. His black skin and height alone were different enough to not set off memories. And while he didn't _like_ Rialyn, if the other Fae was friends with him, he couldn't be evil... Right?

Djuran's hand dropped back to his side as he looked back at Fionn. "Have you traveled with a Djinn before?"

Fionn couldn't bring himself to speak, he just nodded and tried not to flinch when he felt Djuran place his hands on his shoulders. The Djinn's fingers were colder than he expected, much cooler even than human-normal body temperature. He closed his eyes tightly as he felt the strange sensation of his body transforming into smoke and being blown along like a leaf in the breeze. And then he was solidifying again, the Djinn's hands left him and he opened his eyes in time to see Djuran become a pillar of smoke once more and vanish. He would not break down, not here. Djuran was nothing like Adzir, at least he hadn't shown any of the sadistic tendencies the other Djinn had so far. It was just travel magic, no different than traveling with the Demons he now lived with.

He took a deep breath and turned his attention to the room to get his mind off of having been so close to a Djinn. The room he was in was a good sized study, with bookshelves on most of the walls. A desk was set against the wall farthest away from him, and a long table took up the middle of the room. Rialyn was sprawled in a chair to his right, legs hanging down over one armrest and his hair dangling down over the other. A book was propped on his stomach, which slid to the floor as he looked up and swung his feet to the ground.

"Finally! Let's begin." Pulling a small dagger from somewhere in his clothes, Rialyn proceeded to slice the palm of his left hand open. Blood welled up from the gash immediately and started dripping down his wrist as he thrust his hand in Fionn's face. "Heal that."

Golden eyes widening in surprise, Fionn stared at Rialyn for a few seconds until the red-haired Fae impatiently waggled his injured hand. Carefully taking it into both of his own, Fionn relaxed mentally and willed the cut to heal. A golden glow surrounded their hands for a few seconds, and when it was gone, only the blood remained to show there had been a wound.

Rialyn snatched his hand away and wiped the blood off with a cloth. Inspecting his hand, he shook his head with a sigh. A red glow appeared briefly around the no-longer-injured hand and then was gone.

"Pitiful. It did the job true, but not as thoroughly as it should. Had it been a deeper wound, or something more complicated like a broken bone..." Turning away, he stalked towards one of the bookshelves, lightly touching the spines as he looked for a particular one. Pulling a large and heavy book down, he thrust it at Fionn. "Read and memorize. That will be your first lesson. If you do not understand how a body works, what is connected to what, and why, your Gift will not heal others correctly. What is instinct must become reasoned, you heal something in a particular way because that is how it _should_ be, not because your Gift goes in and patches things together any way that makes the pain and bleeding stop."

The Golden Fae felt himself blushing in embarrassment. He had never considered how his Gift worked, just that it _did_. When he needed it, he or his friends were healed. Was healing really that complicated? He looked down at the book he was now holding, the spine and cover were worn as though it had seen lots of use. The pages were not crisp and new, but soft with much handling. But for all this, he could tell it had been well taken care of. It was an anatomy book, one that covered the main types of people living in the Realm. Demons, Fae, Gargoyles, Djinn, Incubi  & Succubi.

"Once you have memorized that, we will work on further control. You must first know what you would heal, before learning the limits of what you _can_ heal." Rialyn paused a moment before continuing. "I expect you to memorize one chapter a week. I will be quizzing you, and if you fail the tests I will be most... _disappointed._ "

Fionn ducked his head. "Okay."

"Well? Sit and start reading. If you have questions, ask." Rialyn walked back to the chair he had been occupying when Fionn arrived, scooped up his fallen book, and resumed his prior position.

 

**~*~ Meanwhile With Harry ~*~**

 

Just after Fionn left, Harry once again heard footsteps in the hallway. Laric entered and came to a stop, seemingly surprised to find him alone.

"I had thought perhaps that we could go for a walk? If you and Fionn are not busy?"

"Fionn just left, his first lesson with Rialyn is today." Harry felt the disappointment through their new Bond. "But I don't have anything planned." A spot of warmth grew in the back of his mind as Laric looked at him with a smile and held out his hand.

Harry stood and tentatively took the offered hand. Courting. Again. How exactly did he end up doing this again so soon? He had never pictured himself as the 'more than one partner' kind. Even after finding out he was a Demon, and that more than one mate was apparently the norm in the Realm. He had Fionn, and was perfectly happy with him. And yet, there was something about Laric that drew him. Fionn liking the Warrior was another good reason, but still... Looking up into ice blue eyes that were much warmer than the description gave them credit for, he found himself blushing faintly.

They walked along in silence for a while, neither one seeming to know what to say, but content to wander. Finally Laric spoke.

"My mother will be thrilled that I am finally Courting. Do not be surprised if she descends upon us with a flurry of, as Gideon would say, 'meddling.' I am an only child, and I do think that she had quite given up on my starting a mateship." The smile the Warrior gave was a bit wry, though the amusement he felt showed both in his ice blue eyes, and in the Courtship Bond.

Heading into a small shop, they each ordered ice cream cones and settled into a booth in the back. Harry had a double-dip of rocky road, and Laric had a single of mint chocolate chip. As he licked his ice cream, he thought about what to say. He didn't really wish to talk about his home-life, but perhaps if he kept the conversation on Laric?

"What about your father? Will he be as happy as your mother?"

A shadow seemed to cross Laric's face for a moment as he focused on his ice cream. "My fathers were killed when I was a child. Mother was devastated, and chose not to start a new mateship. But what about you? Do you have brothers or sisters?" He seemed to hesitate a moment, and Harry could feel the uncertainty the Warrior felt over the next question. "Do your parents know you are in the Realm?"

The bite of ice cream he had just taken chilled his mouth, but gave him a moment to think as he chewed. "I'm an only child as well, my parents were killed when I was a baby and I don't really remember them. My best friend is like a sister to me though, and she knows I'm here. Hermione is really smart, she's helped me a lot over the years and I don't know what I would have done without her."

As Harry crunched the last bit of his ice cream cone, he realized a drip had run down his fingers. Licking them clean, he used a napkin as an after thought, then smiled brightly and slid from the booth. So far, he'd mostly gotten away without talking about his home life to anyone. Ash knew a bit as she'd actually been in his house, but even she didn't know most of it. And he was perfectly happy to go on not telling anyone. They couldn't hurt him here, and he never had to go back to that house, so there was no reason he had to ever bring it up. Laric was giving him a slightly strange look, but as the Warrior dropped the subject, Harry didn't give it any more thought. Had he been thinking, he would have remembered that the Bond worked both ways and that while it was more like empathy than telepathy, that was still good enough to give hints of 'something not right'.

Strolling down the street again, Harry was startled when Laric slid a hand through his arm. Glancing up, he saw the small almost not-there smile on the Warrior's face and blushed lightly, but didn't object to their now linked arms. This close, he could feel Laric's long black braids lightly brushing his arm and wings as they walked. His presence was strangely comforting, he felt safe. Something he hadn't felt often in his life, usually it was he who had to save other people. If only Fionn was with them, it would be a perfect day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to my beta Nicky Noodle.
> 
>  
> 
> One review asked if I had any fan art of the characters. I do not, however I _did_ wander through Google and find some reference pictures for those of you who would like to know how _I_ see some of my OC's. Facially anyhow, I didn't try to find exact hair colors as well. I couldn't find all of them, but these are the ones I get asked about the most at the moment:
> 
>  
> 
> Warrior Braids (only without the beads on the ends, and slightly more intricate on the sides): 
> 
> http://dialectmagazine.com/wp-content/themes/_arts-culture/timthumb.php?src=http://dialectmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/going-natural.jpg&q=90&w=630&zc=1
> 
>  
> 
> Fionn (Face only, lips are not quite that full and eyes are larger): http://www.mens-hairstyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Men-pink-hairstyles.jpg
> 
> Fionn's Hair Style (Bangs are exactly right, they fall into his right eye like that. Sides and back reach the top of the collar of the shirt):
> 
> http://menhairstylesideaz.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/mens-hairstyles-with-a-fringe.jpg
> 
>  
> 
> Laric (Ignore the girl, the guy is _exactly_ what I picture Laric looking like, only with warrior braids instead of loose hair.):
> 
> http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iLZpp7YITgY/Uf3STxEPlWI/AAAAAAAAHeU/cCJDi9yVkW4/s1600/23.jpg
> 
>  
> 
> Gideon (Not exactly, but as close as I could find. His face is a little bit wider than this, mostly around the cheekbones, and no facial hair):
> 
> http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v25mljuZ2mY/UpkIS32e1dI/AAAAAAAARNo/uGaH7MQzON4/s1600/655936.jpg
> 
>  
> 
> Rialyn (cheekbones are a little wider than this, and eyes slightly larger, wrong hair of course): 
> 
> http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/39/44/68/3944686cfae5a8db9043af1764b713e0.jpg
> 
>  
> 
> Ash (perfect, only with longer and lighter hair): 
> 
> http://www.short-haircut.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/short-hairstyles-for-round-faces1.jpg


	41. On The Verge Of A Breakdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's pretty much no good excuse for not updating in so long. I could say that I got a new job and had to learn everything from the ground up. My only living grandmother died. And my muse has been wanting to work on parts of the story we haven't gotten to yet instead of the parts that need to be written first. But those are all still pretty much excuses. So instead I'll say "I'm sorry!"
> 
> This story is not and will not be abandoned. That's a promise. It just may not update as frequently as any of us would like. I have a few Dreamscape chapters written, but I'll have to go through them as some of them may give away who the last un-guessed mate is and I don't want to just tell you. It's more fun when you have to guess! I'll be going through all the comments and answering them in the next few days until I've caught up. And I have half a chapter beyond this written, but I've been stuck on it a while so no promises on when it will appear.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has stuck with the story, as well as all the new readers. Your comments and e-mails have been wonderful and I appreciate every one of them!
> 
> And thanks as always to my beta Nicky Noodle.

Harry had lost track of time with everything that had been happening to him. And the fact that the Wizarding World time moved slower than Realm time, didn't help. But it still came as a bit of a shock to hear that the goblins were ready to present their collected evidence to the Wizengamot, if Harry was ready to deal with Molly and Ron. He still hadn't spoken to the other Weasleys, didn't know if Arthur, Ginny, or Percy had been in on stealing his money.

The thought made him feel cold inside, even though the sun was bright and warm. He wrapped his arms around himself, not really conscious of doing it as he wondered if he was ready to face them. He wandered through Ash's tiny garden area without really seeing it. He'd asked to be alone for a while to think, but his thoughts just kept going in circles. As he started to make yet another circuit, Laric stepped into his path and silently pulled him to rest against his chest. Harry was stiff with surprise for a few heartbeats, and then relaxed against the Warrior.

"What is wrong? Your feelings are all in knots." Laric spoke softly, running a hand through Harry's hair to soothe him. It reminded Harry of the way he so often soothed Fionn.

He chewed his lip a moment, indecisive. He needed to talk to someone about this, but would Laric think less of him once he knew? He knew it was a stupid thought as soon as it appeared, but it hurt. He had thought Ron was his best friend, and Molly had acted like the mother he couldn't remember. And all of it had been lies. Laric was starting to grow on him, but he was afraid of how much it would hurt if everything he was building was based on yet more lies.

A finger slid under Harry's chin and gently lifted it until he was staring into ice blue eyes. A single tear slid silently down his cheek, Harry hadn't even realized he was crying until that moment.

"I love you Harry. Else I would not have asked to Court you. Nothing you say will change that. Nothing." 

Harry gasped softly. Laric loved him? _HIM?_ Sure he knew the Warrior had to be interested in him, or he wouldn't be Courting. But love? How could they all fall in love so fast? First Fionn, and now Laric? He shook his head overwhelmed. He wasn't ready for this, not while he was still stressing over dealing with Molly and Ron. He had no idea what he was going to do about them, he just knew that he had to do something. They couldn't get away with it.

"Talk to me, please? I want to help you, but I cannot do that if you do not tell me what is wrong. The Courtship Bond only helps so much. It tells me you are upset, and that you hurt. But it does not tell me WHY." Laric released him as he backed away, but left one hand outstretched, black braids tumbling forward over his shoulder as he waited for Harry.

"The goblins contacted me today. They said they were ready to take Molly and Ron before the Wizard court. But I don't know if I can... I don't want them to get away with it, but I don't think I can take them to court. I HATE being the center of attention. All those eyes. Everyone wanting something from me. And what if they decide I deserved it? They had to really hate me, don't they? To have pretended to be my friend, to be another son." Harry's voice was only a whisper, his eyes squeezed closed. There was so much pain, he couldn't tell if it was just his own or Laric as well. And he couldn't figure out why Laric would be in pain, deciding it must all be him then.

"Does it have to be the Wizard court? You are a demon, why not try them as we would? You said the goblins have all the evidence, and knowing goblins they would have been very thorough. Correct?"

Harry sniffled, hating the sound of it, and rubbed his eyes harshly with one sleeve. "Y-yes. But I'd still have to go before a court, wouldn't I?"

"Not necessarily. If you allow it, as a potential bonded, I would be permitted to go in your stead. Ash as well as your Guide. It would be presented to the Lord of Fire as the injustice was done to one of his own. And I can assure you, the Lords and Ladies do not look kindly upon those who harm the demons under their care."

A small kernel of hope grew in Harry's chest. Not to have to face those he thought had cared for him. Not to have to stand before strangers while they told everyone how worthless he was. Because hadn't he heard every day since his parents died, how worthless and unworthy he was? That had to be why Molly and Ron had never really cared for him. But... Fionn cared. He didn't think Harry was worthless. And the twins, and Ash. And Laric? He was so confused. If he was worthless, then he deserved what had happened to him. But if he was worthless, then why did Fionn and Laric want him?

He was startled when Laric scooped him up, and sat down on a garden bench with Harry in his lap. He was cuddled against the Warrior's wide chest, with his head tucked under Laric's chin. As the Warrior gently rocked with him and ran soothing fingers along Harry's spine under his wings, Harry gradually relaxed against him. He had the passing thought that he ought to be feeling something, since Laric's fingers were grazing his wings as he rubbed Harry's spine, but all he felt was warm and safe.

"What else is bothering you? I do not like the feelings I am getting from our bond. If you are not careful, you will have Fionn out here with us as well. And as much as I do not begrudge his position in your mateship, YOU are the one who needs solace right now."

With his ear pressed to Laric's chest, he heard the words and felt the rumble of them at the same time. He had thought he would have a hard time letting someone else take care of him, instead of being the one who took care of others. But this... was actually really nice. Would Laric still want him after he knew though? A little voice in the back of his mind whispered that he would be dropped and sneered at, but another voice, one he had been hearing more from since coming to the Realm, pointed out that he couldn't remember a single time Laric had done or said anything that was less than kind. Except the pranks he pulled on the twins. And even then, he had always done only what they deserved, and not a step more.

The dark blue fabric under his cheek was soft. He realized he was holding onto it with his right hand as well. It was well-worn, but without holes. Softened in the way of a favorite clothing item that had been worn many times, and carefully washed so it would be able to be worn many more times. Realizing that he was putting off the inevitable conversation again, he took a shaky breath.

"D-don't interrupt. If I'm to speak, I need to get as much out at once, or..." He felt Laric nod and cuddle him closer. He hadn't realized he could get any closer until that moment.

"My parents died when I was a baby. Dumbledore sent me to live with my relatives, my mother's sister. I lived in the cupboard under the stairs until I was 11." He felt Laric tense, but when the Warrior did not speak, or make any other move, he continued. "I thought my name was 'boy', or 'freak' until I started kindergarten." There was an angry rumble beneath his ear, and the arms around him tightened. "I never had a birthday until I was 11, and Hagrid brought me a cake."

Lightning cracked! Harry jumped and looked quickly up into Laric's face. The Warrior was snarling at the sky, his ice blue eyes colder than Harry had ever thought they could be. The first trickle of fear worked its way through their bond, and Laric's eyes snapped down to meet Harry's green. Forcibly calming himself by closing his eyes and taking deep breaths, the ozone smell in the air gradually faded and Laric's arms loosened until Harry didn't feel as though he was about to be crushed anymore.

"These people too will pay for their crimes Harry. Does Ash know?" Laric barely paused before continuing. "Of course not, else they would already have been tried." He stood in one fluid motion, as if Harry's weight was less than nothing.

Harry squeaked in surprise and Laric kissed him on the forehead before striding towards the house. "I think you have talked enough for today. You need happier thoughts for a while. Shall we see what the others are up to? I do believe I heard Fred say something about singing mice..."


End file.
